WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate passed the government's strongest anti-smoking legislation in decades Thursday with a vote to give regulators new power to limit nicotine in cigarettes, drastically curtail ads and ban candied tobacco products, according to the Associated Press. The legislation, one of the most dramatic anti-smoking initiatives since the U.S. surgeon general's warning 45 years ago that tobacco causes lung cancer, would give the federal Food & Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate the content, marketing and advertising of cigarettes and other tobacco [image-nocss] products.
As reported in a CSP Daily News Flash yesterday, the 79 to 17 Senate vote (with 3 not voting) sends the measure back to the House, which in April passed a similar but not identical version.Click here for the roll call and text of H.R. 1256, the Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act.
The only Democrat voting against the bill was Senator Kay Hagen of North Carolina, said Thomas Briant, executive director of the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO). Since the Senate version of the bill has some differences from the House version, a conference committee may need to be convened to negotiate the differences or the House could accept the Senate version of the legislation, he said.
House acceptance of the Senate bill would send it directly to President Barack Obama, who supports the action and is expected to sign it, AP said. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that "from what I have seen so far, I believe it will be possible for us to accept their bill and send it right on to the president."
Obama's signature would then add tobacco to other major areas of national importance that have come under greater government supervision since his presidency began, the report said. Those include banking, housing and autos and most likely health care.
Supporters of FDA regulation of tobacco have struggled for more than a decade to overcome powerful resistancefrom the industry and elsewhere. In 2000, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 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.
The 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.
The nation's largest tobacco manufacturer, Richmond, Va.-based Philip Morris USA, has come out in support of the legislation. Its parent company, Altria Group, New York, said in a statement:
"For more than eight years, Altria Group has supported tough but reasonable federal regulation of tobacco products.... This legislation would establish a regulatory structure and standards for the manufacturing and marketing of tobacco products that should provide important benefits to adult consumers for many years to come. We believe that adult consumers should be the primary beneficiaries of a federal regulatory framework: (1) under which all tobacco product manufacturers and importers doing business in the United States would operate at the same high standards; (2) for the pursuit of tobacco product alternatives that are less harmful than conventional cigarettes; and (3) that should provide for transparent, scientifically grounded and accurate communication about tobacco products to consumers."
"The legislation passed today is not perfect. For example, we have expressed First Amendment reservations about certain provisions, including those that could restrict a manufacturer's ability to communicate truthful information to adult consumers about tobacco products. We also believe that the resolution of certain issues would best be handled by rulemaking processes that involve sound scientific data and public participation. We have made our views known on these provisions throughout the legislative process."
"On balance, however, the legislation is an important step forward to achieve the goal we share with others to provide federal regulation of tobacco products. We thus encourage the House to adopt H.R. 1256, and to send it to the president for his approval."
Its main rivals, however, have voiced opposition, arguing in part that FDA restrictions on new products will lock in Philip Morris' share of the market. Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds American Inc. did not respond by press time to a CSP Daily News request for comment.
Opponents, led by Republican Sen. Richard 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.
Click hereto view audio and video from Durbin (pictured).
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