['08:58AM', 'ARNOLD&PORTER', '2028726720', 'P0O4/17', 'On', 'or', 'about', 'March', '4,', '1994,', 'Action', 'on', 'Smoking', 'and', 'Health', '(ASH)', 'filed', 'a', 'Citizen’s', 'Petition', 'with', 'the', 'Food', 'and', 'Drug', 'Administration', '(FDA)', 'requesting', 'that', 'it', 'commence', 'a', 'proceading', 'to', 'determine', 'that', 'ail', '(or', 'at', 'feast', 'some)', 'cigarettes', 'containing', 'nicotine', 'were', 'subject', 'to', 'the', 'agency’s', 'jurisdiction,', 'and', 'to', 'promulgate', 'appropriate', 'regulations', 'governing', 'them.', 'Although', 'the', 'FDA', 'has', 'now', 'formally', 'determined', 'that', 'nicotine', 'does', '"affect', 'the', 'structure', 'or', 'any', 'function', 'of', 'the', 'body', 'of', 'man"', 'by', 'causing', 'addiction', 'as', 'well', 'as', 'many', 'other', 'effects,', 'it', 'has', '—', 'more', 'than', 'nine', 'months', 'after', 'receipt', 'of', "ASH's", 'petition', '—', 'not', 'even', 'initiated', 'the', 'formal', 'proceeding', 'requested,', 'much', 'less', 'proposed', 'any', 'ragulations', 'governing', 'cigarsttes.', 'During', 'the', '9-month', 'period', 'which', 'has', 'passed,', 'more', 'than', '800,000', 'children', 'have', 'become', 'addicted', 'to', 'nicotine', 'and', 'to', 'the', 'smoking', 'habit,', 'Experiance', 'strongly', 'suggests', 'that', 'most', 'will', 'remain', 'addicted,', 'and', 'that', 'more', 'than', 'a', 'quarter', 'million', 'will', 'die', 'as', 'a', 'resuit', 'of', 'their', 'addiction,', 'with', 'many', 'more', 'suffering', 'from', 'the', 'numerous', 'diseases', 'caused', 'by', 'smoking', '—', 'a', 'toll', 'probably', 'greater', 'than', 'from', 'all', 'of', 'the', 'other', 'substances', 'the', 'agency', 'now', 'spends', 'its', 'searce', 'resources', 'rcgulating.', 'Moreover,', 'this', 'largest', 'of', 'all', 'public', 'health', 'epidemics', 'will', 'impose', 'enormous', 'costs', 'on', 'our', 'public', 'health', 'system', '—', 'costs', 'which', 'can', 'be', 'very', 'substantially', 'reduced', 'by', 'FDA', 'regulation', 'of', 'nicotine', 'in', 'cigarettes,', 'just', 'as', 'the', 'FDA', 'has', 'long', 'regulated', 'the', 'nicotine', 'in', 'chewing', 'gum,', 'skin', 'patches,', 'and', 'other', 'methods', 'for', 'self', 'administration.', 'Since', 'the', 'FDA', 'has', 'alrcady', 'determined', 'that', 'nicotine', 'affects', 'the', 'structure', 'or', 'functioning', 'of', 'the', 'human', 'body,', 'and', 'the', 'Commissioner', 'and', 'other', 'spokespersons', 'have', 'repeatodly', 'stated', 'in', 'public', 'that', 'there', 'is', 'overwhelming', 'evidence', 'that', 'the', 'tobacco', 'industry', 'intends', 'these', 'effects,', 'there', 'is', 'no', 'further', 'reason', 'to', 'delay', 'moving', 'forward.', 'Therefore', 'ASH', 'respectfully', 'advises', 'the', 'agency', 'that', 'it', 'will', 'initiate', 'a', 'law', 'suit', 'to', 'force', 'the', 'agency', 'to', 'act', '—', 'as', 'it', 'has', 'done', 'successfully', 'with', 'the', 'CAB,', 'OSHA,', 'Dept.', 'of', 'Interior,', 'and', 'others', '—', 'if', 'it', 'does', 'not', 'take', 'action', 'on', 'this', 'issue', 'without', 'further', 'unreasonable', 'delay.', '1', '|', 'L', '0822', 'TEh038']