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to prohibit smoking and abolish cigarettes. It compares cigarettes 

 to alcoholic beverages, caffeine, and to high-fat foods as targets for 

 prohibition if you ever turn toward cigarettes. 



How does FDA regulation affect alcohol, caffeine, and fatty foods, 

 and how would you compare tobacco with alcohol, caffeine, and fat 

 from a health standpoint? 



Mr. Kessler. We regulate caffeine, fat, fatty foods, and with our 

 sister agency, BATF, we regulate alcohol. We do not — there is no 

 prohibition of any of those three others. We do not regulate nico- 

 tine — nicotine in cigarettes. We do regulate other forms of nicotine. 

 There is no question, by orders of magnitude, cigarettes are much 

 more harmful. 



You know, caffeine 2ind fatty foods and alcohol in excess could be 

 harmful. Cigarettes are harmful, period. 



Mr. Kreidler. I appreciate that. 



I am sure there is a good analogy of what this kind of represents 

 of trying to grab on to — I am surprised apple pie isn't listed or 

 something like that, and try to come up with and say, look it, this 

 is Cjod, motherhood, and apple pie and so forth. 



Mr. Kessler. Congressman, I do not personally believe that pro- 

 hibition is the answer. And we are not focused on the regulation 

 of cigarettes. We are focused on the regulation of nicotine in ciga- 

 rettes. And it is a relatively crude tool, the current Food, Drug, and 

 Cosmetic Act as we are looking at it. I would focus on the policy 

 questions. As I spoke to Congressman Greenwood, I would focus on 

 tnose policy options that really would reduce kids and teenagers 

 becoming hooked for their life. 



Mr. Kreidler. Well, I think you are very appropriate to point 

 that out. I don't know if anybody, at least among my peers here 

 in Congress, are talking about prohibition and I have certainly 

 never heard it from the FDA or anyplace else. I only hear it from 

 the tobacco industry which is trying to raise some kind of specter 

 here to avoid appropriate regulation if there is a health risk. 



Mr. Kessler. Congressman, I need to point out that we are talk- 

 ing about under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that nicotine, 

 if the Agency were to conclude that nicotine in certain doses were 

 in fact a drug in cigarettes, then that could affect the nicotine in 

 the cigarettes but that would not affect the other parts of the ciga- 

 rette. 



Mr. Kreidler. Good point. Let me just switch here going to the 

 issue related to Y-1. Have you asked the Department of Agriculture 

 whether they ever issued an export permit for Y-1 tobacco seeds 

 and do you have any information from USDA on this? 



Mr. Kessler. Congressman, we've asked the companies, as I 

 mentioned in my testimony, for copies of their export permits and, 

 yes, I have been in communication with the Department of Agri- 

 culture and I have some information and I would be happy to sup- 

 ply that to you privately. 



Mr. Kreidler. Great. I appreciate it. Do you have any informa- 

 tion on or reasons to believe that Y-1 variety tobacco has any other 

 properties besides a high nicotine level that would make it desir- 

 able or useful to cigarette manufacturers? 



Mr. Kessler. Congressman — ^Andrew, you have a chart on the 

 characteristics of Y-1. As I read the English translation of the For- 



