Congress Votes to Give FDA Control over Tobacco

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Decades after the U.S. surgeon general declared cigarette smoking harmful to health, Congress has voted to give the FDA the power to regulate the cigarette industry.

What this means is that the FDA could ban harmful additives in cigarettes, or prevent the manufacture of candy-flavored tobacco or the marketing of cigarettes to minors.

The bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by Tom Davis (R-Va) and Henry Waxman (D-Calif), had heavy support from both sides of the aisle, though President Bush has said he would veto the bill if it passes the Senate, which will likely vote on it this fall.

While the bill, called the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, has support in the Senate as well, it’s not certain that it has a veto-proof majority.

A statement from the White House administration was issued, reading in part, "The administration supports efforts to encourage adults who smoke to choose to quit and to prevent children from ever using tobacco products, [but] in seeking to limit the harm imposed by tobacco on the American public, the bill will unfortunately undermine one of the nation's premier public health and regulatory institutions and potentially lead the public to mistakenly conclude some tobacco products are safe."

What the statement refers to is the fact that the FDA will be burdened with the task of approving "less harmful" tobacco products which will need to be shown to have an overall health benefit to the general public (such as lower-nicotine or smokeless products) in order to be sold.

But others say the bill is long overdue, and the tobacco industry has needed federal regulation all along.

John Seffrin, CEO of the Cancer Action Network, told reporters, "The tobacco industry has thrived on the business of addiction for decades by turning children into tobacco users with slick marketing tactics and misleading the public about the harms of its deadly products."

Surprisingly, one of the tobacco giants is also on board with the bill. The Phillip Morris Company, looking for a new market in tobacco products labeled as "less harmful," is supporting the bill. All other major tobacco companies are strongly against it. "Our reduced harm research is a big focus for the company," said Bill Phelps, a representative for Phillip Morris.

One in five adults smoke cigarettes, despite years of warnings that smoking is one of the most common causes of preventable deaths. Cancer, heart disease, and lung illnesses related to smoking cause almost 450,000 deaths every year. This is more than ten times the number of people who die annually in car accidents.