Scrutinize tobacco more than mac and cheese
Who would have thought that a box of macaroni and cheese is more rigorously regulated than tobacco products, such as a pack of cigarettes produced with poisons and addictive substances, including arsenic, formaldehyde, benzene and nicotine?

Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, killing more than 400,000 Americans each year, says the American Heart Association. Every day, approximately 4,000 kids will try their first cigarette. Yet there is no Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight of tobacco products.

I am an American Heart Association volunteer and a survivor of a serious stroke. I must also embarrassingly admit that I smoked my first cigarette at age 14. And while I was an athlete, cheerleader, active and responsible, I smoked socially with friends for nearly 10 more years, significantly increasing my risk for a stroke.

Passage of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act - also known as the "FDA Tobacco Bill" - would prevent tobacco companies from targeting kids and help us reduce tobacco-related illnesses that are costing our country nearly $100 billion in health-care costs every year. Shouldn't tobacco products be regulated by the FDA in the same manner as macaroni and cheese and other products like pet food, cosmetics or orange juice?

Many New Jersey congressmen, such as Congressman Frank Pallone, are great friends of the American Heart Association and sponsors of the FDA Tobacco Bill. Congressman Pallone - as chair of the House Subcommittee on Health - has promised to move the bill as soon as possible, and as his constituent, I thank him for that. If your local congressman is not a sponsor, urge him to support the FDA Tobacco Bill as written. Contact the American Heart Association state office in New Jersey at (609) 208-0020 to find out how you can help.

All we are asking is that deadly tobacco products receive the same or greater scrutiny as we give mac and cheese. That's not asking too much.

Linda Maresca

Middletown Stroke Survivor and Volunteer

American Heart Association