Congresswoman Gwen Moore Adds Voice to Groundswell of Support for Reducing Nicotine in Cigarettes, Encourages HHS Secretary Becerra to Take Action to Save Lives and End Health Disparities - Seite 2

In her letter to Secretary Becerra, Moore states, “The negative health effects of nicotine addiction and smoking fall more heavily on minority and low-income communities. Nowhere is this disparity greater than among low-income African-Americans.” Supporting her point, she cites statistical data from a paper in the American Psychological Association Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology that reports that 16.7% of African Americans in the U.S. are smokers, compared to 13.7% who are white. Representative Moore’s call to action comes during National Minority Health Month, which was created to build awareness about the disproportionate burden of premature death and illness in minority populations.

Moore also laments the fact that after FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb launched the Agency’s initiative to reduce the level of nicotine in tobacco products in 2017, it was dropped as a priority in 2019. That decision was made despite a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report in the same year showing that eight in 10 cigarette smokers favor a rule requiring cigarette makers to reduce the amount of nicotine in cigarettes. As head of HHS, Secretary Becerra has oversight of all operational divisions within HHS, including the FDA, and he has the authority to direct the FDA to move forward with the nicotine mandate proposed under Commissioner Gottlieb.

“It has never been clearer that cigarette addiction disproportionately harms our minority and most vulnerable communities, and extensive research supports Representative Moore’s statements that African Americans continue to pay a heavy price, with high levels of cigarette addiction in their communities. This is no coincidence; such communities have been targeted by Big Tobacco using appropriated cultural themes and aggressive marketing and sales promotion,” said John Pritchard, vice president of regulatory science for 22nd Century Group. “With smoking rates as high as 40% in low-income communities, the time for willful ignorance is over. The FDA has the authority to address these shameful disparities: Big Tobacco and its proxies must stand aside to enable an equal, healthy and more just society for all.”