OT: New federal legislation about tobacco

[Guest guest]

No smoking: Vote could bring new limits

Historic anti-smoking vote grants new power over marketing, ingredients

The Associated Press

updated 2:13 p.m. PT, Thurs., June 11, 2009

WASHINGTON

- The Senate struck a historic blow against smoking in America

Thursday, voting overwhelmingly to give regulators new power to limit

nicotine in the cigarettes that kill nearly a half-million people a

year, to drastically curtail ads that glorify tobacco and to ban

flavored products aimed at spreading the habit to young people.

President

Barack Obama, who has spoken of his own struggle to quit smoking, said

he was eager to sign the legislation after minor differences with a

House version are worked out — and the House planned a vote for Friday.

Cigarette foes said the measure would not only cut deaths but reduce

the $100 billion in annual health care costs linked to tobacco.

Fierce

opposition by the industry and tobacco-state lawmakers had prevented

passage for years, along with veto threats by the W. Bush White

House. In the end, the nation's biggest tobacco company supported the

measure, though rivals suggested that was because it could lock in

Philip ' share of the market.

Cigarette

smoking kills about 400,000 people in the United States every year,

according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 45

million U.S. adults are smokers, though the prevalence has fallen since

the U.S. surgeon general's warning 45 years ago that tobacco causes

lung cancer.

The legislation, one of the

most dramatic anti-smoking initiatives since the surgeon general's

report, would give the Food and Drug Administration authority to

regulate the content, marketing and advertising of cigarettes and other

tobacco products.

" This legislation

represents the strongest action Congress has ever taken to reduce

tobacco use, the leading preventable cause of death in the United

States, " declared Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-free

Kids.

The 79-17 Senate vote sent the

measure back to the House, which in April passed a similar but not

identical version. House acceptance of the Senate bill would send it

directly to Obama, who said Thursday that final passage " will make

history by giving the scientists and medical experts at the FDA the

power to take sensible steps. "

" At any given moment, millions are struggling with their habit or worrying about

loved ones who smoke, " said Obama.

His

signature would then add tobacco to other huge, nationally important

areas that have come under greater government supervision since his

presidency began. Those include banking, housing and autos. Still to

come, if Congress can agree: health care.

New rules and regulations

Supporters

of FDA regulation of tobacco have struggled for more than a decade to

overcome powerful resistance — from the industry and elsewhere. In 2000

the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the agency did not have the authority

under current law to regulate tobacco products, and the Bush

administration opposed several previous efforts by Congress to write a

new law.

Thursday's legislation gives the

FDA power to evaluate the contents of tobacco products and to order

changes or bans on those that are a danger to public health. The agency

could limit nicotine yields but not ban nicotine or cigarettes.

Regulators

could prohibit tobacco companies from using candy or other flavors in

cigarettes that tend to attract young smokers, and restrict advertising

in publications often read by teenagers. Rules on sales to minors would

be toughened, as would warning labels. Tobacco companies would have to

get FDA approval for new products, and would be barred from using terms

such as " light " or " mild " that imply a smaller health risk.

Costs of the new program would be paid for through a fee imposed on tobacco

companies.

" This

is a bill that will protect children and will protect America, " said

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., a leading supporter. " Every day that we don't

act, 3,500 American kids — children — will light up for the first time.

That is enough to fill 70 school buses. "

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that FDA regulation could reduce

underage smoking by 11 percent over the next decade.

The

bill, said American Heart Association CEO Brown, " provides a

tremendous opportunity to finally hold tobacco companies accountable

and restrict efforts to addict more children and adults. "

The

tobacco lobby, contended Durbin, has long been the most powerful lobby

on Capitol Hill, " and they managed to create an exemption in virtually

every law so that no federal agency could take a look at them and

regulate them. "

But

the industry has also taken hits in recent years as the dangers of

smoking became more apparent and states moved to limit smoking in

public places. In 1998 the industry agreed to pay the states $206

billion to help cover health care costs, and this year Congress raised

the federal cigarette tax by 62 cents, to $1.01 a pack, to fund a

health care program for children.

Reducing health care costs

The

nation's largest tobacco manufacturer, Philip , USA, has come out

in support of the legislation. Its parent company, Altria Group, said

in a statement that on balance, " the legislation is an important step

forward to achieve the goal we share with others to provide federal

regulation of tobacco products. "

Its main

rivals, however, have voiced opposition, arguing in part that FDA

restrictions on new products will lock in Philip ' share of the

market.

Lawmakers portrayed the bill as a

major first step in bringing down health care costs, an essential goal

of the health care overhaul legislation that is the top priority of the

Obama administration this year.

" This

bill may do more in the area of prevention, if adopted, than anything

else we may include in the health care bill in the short term, " said

Sen. Dodd, D-Conn., who managed the legislation on the

Senate floor in the absence of the ailing Sen. Kennedy, D-Mass.,

who has long promoted FDA regulation.

Opponents,

led by Republican Sen. Burr of the tobacco-growing state of

North Carolina, argued that the FDA, which is in charge of ensuring the

safety of food and drug products, was the wrong place to regulate an

item that is injurious to health.

He also

contended that the bill would restrict tobacco companies, including

several based in his state, from developing new products that might be

less harmful to users. He unsuccessfully proposed the creation of a new

agency that would both regulate tobacco products and encourage efforts

to make cigarettes less harmful.

Copyright

2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not

be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31233307/

[Guest guest]

He, he I hope this is just the beginning of the end to corrupt corporate

practices. Food, Inc. the movie, about to debut should also bring about some

healthy <no pun intended, smile> debate.

> Lawmakers portrayed the bill as a

> major first step in bringing down health care costs, an essential goal

> of the health care overhaul legislation that is the top priority of the

> Obama administration this year.

>

>