Answer

Introduction

The US government is working tirelessly in reducing the use of tobacco in the country as tobacco smoking is the most prevalent cause of death in the country which can be prevented. The success of those efforts would result in a lowered number of deaths and illnesses as a result of tobacco products. The health costs incurred would also be reduced and those finances would be re directed in establishing projects that improve the lives of the citizens. Over the recent few decades the government has embarked on cracking down on drugs in the country, tobacco being the leading drug that causes much damage the government has been able to prioritize it in the efforts to curb drug use in the country. The Surgeon General’s Report of 1964 has been instrumental in reducing the use of tobacco. Nevertheless, statistics indicate that 18 percent of the American population still smokes. Although the citizens are well aware of the risks that one gets due to tobacco use the statistics of those consuming are still high which begs us to analyze what is the reason for that? Once the reasons have been identified we then look at what can be done to salvage this situation.

The foremost challenge that the government meets in reducing the use of tobacco in the country is the resistance they face from the tobacco industry. A success in the control of tobacco use in the country is well like a dilemma as the forces that oppose the move are so strong. This is due to the fact that the tobacco industry together with its associates works tirelessly in making sure that they have promoted the use of their products (Stimmel 2013). The industry works hard so as to ensure that their interest are being met. The government is employing measures such as restricting the use of tobacco in the public areas as well as putting up measures that would lead to cessation of the drug in order to reduce the uptake of the drug.  Moves like this oppose directly the interest of the tobacco industry which makes them to work to counter what the government is doing in order to maintain the market share of their consumers.

The tobacco industry employs measures such as providing funding to various sectors of the economy as well as make treaties with the necessary shareholders in the economy in order to protect their interests. These are some of the efforts that derail the government’s efforts of combating the menace. In 1973 Rittel and Webber termed tobacco as a wicked problem which meant that the problem was so widespread that one agency cannot be able to fight and win the war against the use of tobacco. The expansiveness of the problem is the major reason which makes the industry to continue blooming even as many agencies unite to reduce the use of its products. The Food Drug and Administration agency is the organization instituted by the government to regulate matters related to food and drugs in the country. The FDA was given the mandate to curb the issue but is still in the process of dealing with the drug (Benowitz 2010).

 The procedures set by the FDA have been implemented slowly due to a couple of reasons. It was until June 2009 that president Obama assented into law the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that the FDA was given the mandate to regulate the production, marketing and sale of the product. It’s the law that has is currently aiding the FDA in the fight against tobacco use in the country as before the enacting of the law tobacco products were mostly not regulated under the then federal health laws which they used to regulate foods and other drugs in the country. However, the enacting of the law is a major boost in the fight against tobacco by the government and the agencies concerned as it provides clear guidelines of various ways that can be used to control the drug. The law gives the FDA jurisdiction over all tobacco products which include the existing and the once that are manufactured while it also allows the agency to put up measures that will counter the sale of the drugs to the youth as well as inhibiting tobacco marketing and advertising.

Tobacco products standards are the initial standards that the FDA is setting to reduce the use of tobacco. The agency has established a new center which will create the rules that will be used to analyze the tobacco products manufactured and issue a statement  of whether the products should be consumed or not. After inspecting the products they might instruct the companies producing to alter the cigarettes contents in order to meet the required health standards. The checking of the branding and labelling of the contents of the tobacco products is also a measure the agency looks at keenly. If the standards required are not meant they have to act appropriately by instructing the industries to manufacture again the products so as to be able to meet the set standards ( Wackowski & Rutgers,2011). Although the law gives power to the FDA in order to reduce the use of tobacco the law does not allow the agency to use its standard authority to reduce the nicotine levels in the tobacco but gives them authority to state  how the nicotine levels can be reduced to.

The next area addressed by the new law is that they ought to be restrictions in the marketing of the products. Cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products are required to have a number of restrictions on their advertising and their marketing. The FDA is also allowed to impose restrictions that it deems fit on the marketing and advertising of the products as a way of enhancing the general public health. Some other restrictions that are employed by the agency are such as the selling of tobacco to minors which it deems illegal and those found doing it will be arrested and prosecuted. Misleading advertising such as indicating the level of the tar content as either low, medium or high in cigarettes is also prohibited. Several bans are also allowed to be imposed by the agency. Bans that have been initiated include the ban of advertising a few yards away from a school, the giving of free samples of the tobacco, and the sale of cigarettes in packets which do not contain 20 cigarettes which is the number contained in a full packet. Also banned is the advertising in publication whose bulk readership is teenagers as well as the law which stipulates that 18 years as the minimum age required by law for one to smoke.

Tobacco products are expected to improve on their labelling and advertising warnings which are usually written on the surface of the packets. In earlier times the packets would be labelled with a warning that stated the Surgeon General’s Warning with different kinds of warnings inscribed on the surface. The various examples of warnings are such as the diseases that are caused by the consumption of the drug like lung cancer and heart diseases (Stimmel 2013). The effects of the drug on the pregnant mothers who consumed it is another inscription that was inscribed after the warning. However, the new laws stipulated the change in the inscription on the packets in order for them to only read Warning with the different inscriptions placed after the term. The other difference is that the inscriptions need to be big enough to cover 50 percent of the front and the back of the packet written with a larger font size which was proposed to be 17. These are improvements to the initial warnings which were small. Also the various inscriptions inscribed after the warning signs were also increased.

The other domain the act is granting powers to the FDA is the disclosure by the tobacco companies of the various tar and nicotine proportions used in manufacturing each product. During a period of half a year since the law took into effect the tobacco industries were to inform of the contents that they used in making the products.  The required information by the agency is a list of ingredients used by the company while making the product, the form of nicotine used and a list of all constituents of the product as well as the documents that relate to the toxicology and health effects of the products to the consumer. Any changes that the manufacturer wanted to do on the product requires the manufacturer to inform the agency 3 months before making the changes in order for the agency to alert the consumers of the changes as well as research on the changes that are to be effected so as they can be able to deem it fit. Also required is the submission of all the documents pertaining to the research on the health effects of the drug, if there is a better technology that can make the product better and the effectiveness of the practices of the tobacco product. All those documents are to be submitted by the companies when requested (Benowitz 2010).

The processes that the government together with the WHO has put in place to curb the use of tobacco in the country are measures that are working. However, more can be done to reduce the use of the tobacco in the country. The government has never toughened up the rules to a greater extent like the banning of tobacco in the whole country and stating clearly that punitive action will start to be taken not only on the companies making the product nut also on the consumers. At a certain time the government had banned the use of alcohol in the country a measure that was effective in reducing the drug intake. A measure of that kind would be so drastic with many consequences but the government would have reduced the consumption of the tobacco in the country.

Increasing the legal age of the consumption of tobacco to 25 years of age would also be a good measure in reducing the use of the drug. At that age one has developed and become a mature person who can make the right decisions without coercion from anyone. This will enable individuals to think rationally about the kind of decisions they make as they can be able to think and assess various view points of the decisions they want to make and they will also be able to analyze the impact the decision will have on their lives. According to psychologist it’s until the development of the frontal lobes that one is able to think rationally and make the correct decisions thus the legislators should argue that at 18 years a person is not mature enough to make such critical choices. Therefore by the government raising the legal age to 25 they will help avert the many cases where teenagers get influenced and they start taking tobacco.

Conclusion

The fight against the use of tobacco in the country is a menace that has affected our society and it requires all the stakeholders to unite in reducing its use. The government is the major stakeholder in fighting tobacco use in the country but also the citizens have a role to play. Necessary regulations have been instituted by the government which is usually reinforced by the FDA but the citizens should also take it as their responsibility in fighting it (Benowitz 2010). Through the cooperation of the citizens and the government the reduction in usage of tobacco is possible as the efforts employed by the government will be followed by the citizens thus preventing new persons from being addicted to it. The members of society who are already addicted can be helped by the government together with the citizens in their rehabilitation process. If all the efforts of the stakeholders are pulled together we can be able to be successful in reducing the use of tobacco in the country.