The toxic-tobacco law: "appropriate remedial action"

Abstract

Tobacco products, despite being lethal and addictive, are highly attractive and accessible to children at hundreds of thousands of retail outlets. The proposed Toxic-Tobacco Law (the Law) will end this access by prohibiting U.S. corporations from making, marketing, or importing tobacco products. The Law will go into effect twenty years after enactment, giving all stake-holders (e.g., farmers) time to adjust. After this adjustment period, adults will be "free" to import tobacco products for personal use. Unlike Prohibition, which sought to stop Americans from consuming alcohol, the Toxic-Tobacco Law does not seek to restrict consumption by adults. The purpose of this law is to end the massive presence of tobacco products in American society in order to prevent the addiction of children to tobacco and its devastating health consequences (e.g., lung cancer). The U.S. Congress, under the "commerce clause" of the Constitution, has the authority to pass the Toxic-Tobacco Law.