Posted on 07/16/2004 6:59:00 AM PDT by buzzyboop
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate approved a plan to give the government broad new powers to regulate the cigarette industry, including the ability to eliminate harmful ingredients in tobacco products and forbid advertising that appeals to children.
The measure empowering the Food and Drug Administration to oversee the sale, marketing and manufacturing of cigarettes was linked on the Senate floor Thursday to a $12 billion buyout of tobacco farmers.
An unlikely coalition of anti-smoking advocates and tobacco-state senators pushed to secure the 78-15 vote to add the twin measures to a massive corporate tax bill that the Senate then passed on a voice vote and sent to a House-Senate conference committee.
The House-passed tax bill includes a plan to pay tobacco farmers to leave the federal tobacco-growing system but does not give FDA any new powers. Health groups hailed the Senate action.
"This is the first time that any body of Congress has ever passed a bill giving the FDA authority over tobacco," said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "The fact that tobacco state members supported its passage could represent a sea change in attitudes if they continue to support it in conference."
Under the proposal, health warnings on cigarette packs would be made larger and would more explicitly state the dangers associated with smoking.
The FDA could not ban cigarettes. It also could not eliminate nicotine, though it could call for major reductions in the amount of the addictive substance found in tobacco products. The agency could order the removal of other harmful ingredients.
Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, who crafted the FDA measure with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass, said the public would for the first time get details about what's in tobacco products. Under current law, there are very limited disclosure requirements placed on tobacco companies.
"Current law makes sure we know what's in products designed to help people quit smoking, like the patch or Nicorette gum, but not the very products that get people addicted in the first place to cigarettes themselves," DeWine said.
Marketing terms such as "light" and "ultra-light" would be prohibited unless the FDA approved them. Studies have shown those cigarettes haven't reduced health risks faced by smokers.
The FDA asserted authority over cigarettes in 1996, but the Supreme Court later ruled that only Congress can give the FDA that power.
Where does the money come from when you're president of Tobacco Free Kids? Just one of many shuck-and-jive "semipublic" interest groups which let scammers loll about on fat piles of public money. When anyone offers to "improve" your life, your health or your society, stand not upon the order of your going but leave at once.
Interesting dichotomy:
* President Bush's multi-billion dollar Aids program is being lambasted for relying "too heavily" (or at all) on the idea that abstinence from risky behavior will reduce Aids.
* The same people insist that only total abstinence from tobacco (including not even being able to sniff someone else's smoke) is the only way to reduce the health risks associated with the risky behavior of using tobacco.
The only way I can visualize smaller government is by standing farther away.
Teddy is all about wefare for the rich, just not taxes for the rich.
Is there any other way that government ever addresses a problem?
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I used to smoke 'em. I quit to save money.
I put on weight and I miss a good smoke with my coffee :(
I saved money, which I now spend on exercise equipment and anti-depressants...
Oh sure! The various governments are making so much money off of tobacoo...the tabacco lawusuits and tobacco taxes. They don't want people to quit smoking! What a bunch of hypocrites! The tobacco lawsuit money was supposed to offset public health exependitures and every single state has fought over anything to spend the money on EXCEPT health. And these people keep getting reelected.
So did you lose weight and get un-depressed? :-)
LOL
the meds keep me un-depressed for the most part. The weight is manageable, I'm not much over "normal", but after having been thin all my life, it's more a blow to my vanity than anything else lol
A study published a few years back listed who owns tobacco allotments. Most of the holders are large farm co-ops and corporations. I think the largest private holder was actually a doctor from Florence, SC. I dont smoke cigarettes but ultimately the costs of this will go into the pack. Whats the prediction, $4 a pack?
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