Newswise — Michael P. Eriksen, dean of the School of Public Health at Georgia State University, is available to discuss the e-cigarette rules released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration today (May. 5, 2016), which broaden the definition of tobacco products under federal regulations.
Eriksen has more than 20 years of experience in tobacco control research and practice, including his tenure as Director of the Office on Smoking and Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"It has taken much too long, but the FDA now has the authority to regulate all tobacco products and to develop a coherent nicotine regulatory framework that will ultimately reduce the death and destruction caused by tobacco use, predominantly by smoking,” said Eriksen, who is the lead researcher on a $19 million grant focusing on decision-making around tobacco and e-cigarettes.
"This effort is not just about regulating ‘e-cigs,’” he said, “but doing so in an environment where traditional cigarettes are made less attractive and addicting.”
The broadened definition of tobacco products now includes not only e-cigarettes, but also hookahs, pipe tobacco, premium cigars and little cigars, among other products.
"Now that the FDA has the legal authority to regulate all tobacco products, it needs to use its existing authority over nicotine sold as a drug and its authority over health claims, marketing, devices, etc. to come up with an integrated framework that reduces the harm from smoking and regulates all nicotine products commensurate with the harm they cause," Eriksen said.
The research Eriksen is undertaking with colleagues also includes projects examining human economic behavior, consumer reaction to tobacco and e-cig marketing and individual perception of risk of novel tobacco products.
He is also the lead author of The Tobacco Atlas, a joint project of the American Cancer Society and the World Lung Foundation.
Eriksen can discuss how federal regulators make decisions about issuing new rules around existing products, the marketing tactics that companies have been using to build youth and adult interest in electronic cigarettes, and other issues around the industry’s efforts to find ways to offer new products in the US and abroad.
For his full bio, please visit http://publichealth.gsu.edu/profile/michaeleriksen/.
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