Here is a response I got from Senator Debbie Stabenow...
Thank you . . .
. . . for contacting me about tobacco regulation. I understand your concerns.
In June, Congress passed, and the President signed, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (P.L. 111-31) with broad bipartisan support. I supported this important measure because tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States, resulting in 400,000 deaths each year including one-third of all cancer deaths, nearly four out of five lung cancer deaths, and one in five deaths from cardiovascular disease.
The new law authorizes the FDA to regulate tobacco products explicitly and restrict tobacco advertising, prevents the sale of tobacco to children, requires stronger warning labels, and ensures that tobacco companies bear the cost for regulation. Additionally, the FDA will have the authority to review companies' claims about the health effects of new types of tobacco products. This law will make a significant dent in one of our nation's greatest public-health challenges, protecting our children from becoming addicted to smoking.
Thank you again for contacting me. Please continue to keep me informed about issues of concern to you and your family.
Sincerely,
Debbie Stabenow
United States Senator
And my response...!
Senator,
Thank you for you reply. I understand the risks of using tobacco and it must be understood that all people who choose to use tobacco products knowingly assume the risk. That being said, I also must note that I dont smoke cigarettes. I believe that a distinction needs to be made between cigarette tobacco and pipe/cigar tobacco. The two are vastly different in their production and processing which results in two vastly different products. It has also been apparent to me that no study on the health affects of tobacco has made this distinction which may show major differences in how the use of both products affects the human body.
Aside from the physical and chemical differences between cigarette tobacco and pipe/cigar tobacco there are many differences in their use that are completely ignored in all health related tobacco research. For one, cigarettes are habitually used by addicted users who may smoke 10 to 20 cigarettes a day where as pipe and cigar smokers smoke purely for the pleasure of the flavor of the tobacco and characteristically smoke only once a day or maybe only a few times a week. Personally, I usually only enjoy one cigar a week. Secondly, the difference between each product and how it is consumed by the user is vastly different which I would also expect to change the outcome of medical research considerably. Unfortunately for responsible, educated tobacco users like myself, these differences are never considered when it comes to anti-tobacco legislation and It is tax payers like myself that are punished.
If you and other leaders in our government are so concerned with the health of the general public then why don't you cite the leading cause of death in the United States; heart disease. Since one major contributor to heart disease in the United States is obesity, which is fueled by our country's love for fatty foods, would it be fair to say that fast food kills more people in the U.S. than tobacco, considering that the American Heart Association noted over 425 thousand heart attack deaths in 2006? As far as I'm concerned it is that kind of logic that groups us cigar/pipe tobacco users with the problems of cigarette tobacco users. If you wish to be a fair leader PLEASE research and consider the differences I have outlined above.
Lastly, I would just like to say that prohibition, which is essentially what leaders like you are promoting for tobacco, has historically failed to control the substance in question. And not only does it not work, its bad for a struggling economy like we have here in Michigan.
Thank you for reading,
-Steven Stewart
