Ariva debate
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
FDA denies 2001 petition by Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and 18 other public health organizations to regulate Star Scientific's Ariva "cigaletts" as either an unapproved new drug or adulterated food, the campaign reports in Aug. 29 1release. Ariva - a compressed tobacco lozenge - is currently regulated as a tobacco product under the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act (1986) (2"The Tan Sheet" December 24, 2001, p. 5). According to CTFK, FDA claims it lacks authority to regulate Ariva based on a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2000 that the agency does not have authority over traditional tobacco products as customarily marketed. Ariva is "clearly neither a traditional tobacco product nor is it marketed like one," CTFK contends. "It is used and consumed like a food and has been marketed as a drug. We believe FDA's decision is wrong and places consumers in unnecessary jeopardy"...