Tobacco Regulation Bill Passes House
By: Gerri L. Elder
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, called a landmark piece of legislation by its supporters, has been overwhelmingly passed in the House. The bill would subject the tobacco industry to regulation by federal health authorities for the first time.
Although the bill seems to have enough support in Congress to pass, the Senate may not have time to act on it. Additionally, the Bush administration has threatened a veto, according to the Associated Press.
Rep. Henry Waxman has worked for over ten years to get a tobacco regulation bill passed in the House. The 326-102 House vote was a victory for Waxman, but he says that it has taken the legislation far too long to be passed. Both presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, support the legislation.
The bill would give the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco (both cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products), restrict tobacco advertising and impose new federal penalties for selling tobacco products to minors.
Under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, tobacco and other products containing nicotine could not be outlawed, but the FDA could require manufacturers to reduce or eliminate cancer-causing chemicals found in cigarette smoke. The FDA would also be allowed to ban menthol and other cigarette flavoring, and candy flavored cigars and cigarettes would be banned.
Opponents of the bill argue that the FDA already has enough to deal with and that having a public health agency work to regulate tobacco would send the wrong message.
Although everyone is well aware of the dangers of cigarette smoke, approximately one in five adults still continue to smoke cigarettes, despite the health warnings and restrictions. Illnesses that are related to smoking, such as cancer and heart and lung diseases, kill about 10 times the amount of people who die in the United States each year in traffic accidents.
The bill is a compromise between Philip Morris USA, the largest tobacco company in the country, and major tobacco control groups. Philip Morris USA supports the legislation, but other tobacco companies, including R.J. Reynolds, are opposed to the bill.
Philip Morris is banking on the legislation creating a new market in federally certified, reduced-risk tobacco products because the bill outlines a process for the FDA to scientifically evaluate manufacturer claims that some cigarettes are less of a health risk. The company has heavily invested in a new research center to develop tobacco products that are less harmful.
Public health advocates that support the bill say that regulation by the FDA will put pressure on the tobacco industry and work to reduce the overall number of smokers and therefore the harm caused by tobacco use.