Can Anyone State, With A Straight Face, That Cigarettes (With Additives Added to Final Product) Are Not DRUGS That Should Be Regulated By The FDA?

Read more about the U. S. Senate nearly overwhelmingly voting to subject the cigarette product to regulation by the Federal DRUG Administration, or follow the excerpt below:


Senate, 79-17, approves tough FDA regulation of tobacco
Barbara Barrett

WASHINGTON — Government would have broad new authority to regulate tobacco products, slash nicotine content and restrict advertising under historic legislation approved overwhelmingly Thursday afternoon by the Senate.

Health advocates cheered the 79-17 passage of the bill, saying it could prevent thousands of deaths in the future. One of every five Americans uses tobacco, and smoking-related disease kills nearly half a million a year — more than any other preventable cause of death.

Tobacco allies, however, said new regulation would cost jobs, hurt farmers and maintain the market dominance of tobacco giant Philip Morris, the maker of Marlboros.

The bill would direct the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the content and marketing of tobacco products. It would allow the agency to alter the chemical makeup to affect both the taste and, health advocates hope, the addictive qualities of tobacco products.

The FDA would use hundreds of millions of dollars in fees from tobacco companies to hire scientists and impose restrictions. Cigarettes could no longer be called "light" or "low-tar." Warnings would cover at least half of packages. Advertising would only be allowed in black and white. Fruit- and sweet-flavored tobacco products would be banned.

Under the bill, the nicotine in cigarettes could be cut to almost zero — but not wiped out entirely, which some health advocates warn reduces the bill's impact.

The Senate bill now returns to the House, where almost identical legislation was approved overwhelmingly. President Barack Obama, an occasional smoker, plans to sign the bill into law.

"Today is an historic day for public health," said John R. Seffrin, president of the American Cancer Society Action Network. The bill, he said, "will finally put an end to big tobacco's despicable marketing practices that are designed to addict children to its deadly products."

Altria Group, the owner of Philip Morris, issued a statement praising the bill but saying it's imperfect, especially when it comes to advertising restrictions.

"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," Altria wrote.

"On balance, however, the legislation is an important step forward."

Thursday's vote was the first time in a decade of attempts that both chambers of Congress have passed the stringent tobacco regulation.

The legislation was fought fiercely by tobacco state interests, most notably North Carolina Republican Sen. Richard Burr, who held up Senate floor matters for nearly two weeks in protest of the bill — knowing it would eventually pass. Burr is the Senate's second-highest recipient of tobacco money over his career, after Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader.

Burr argued that the FDA already is overextended and underfunded, and that the restrictions would keep entrepreneurs from developing tobacco products that could reduce the health risks to users.

The U.S. surgeon general has determined that there is no safe tobacco product.


Update: POTUS Barack Obama looks forward to signing the bill into law. Watch video below: