Senate votes to let the FDA regulate tobacco

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, 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.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, was one of just 17 senators who opposed it — even though he is a well-known, nonsmoking member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and an outspoken opponent of tobacco.

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, another nonsmoking Mormon, also voted against it.

Hatch said recently, "Expanding federal authority and saddling the Food and Drug Administration with tobacco regulation is not appropriate. The FDA lacks sufficient funds to carry out its current responsibilities."

He added, "I feel that requiring the FDA to regulate tobacco would put the agency in direct conflict of its mission to protect public health. Tobacco has no health benefits, so it makes no sense to have the FDA regulate a product that is inherently unsafe." Fierce opposition by the industry and tobacco-state lawmakers had prevented passage for years, along with veto threats by the George 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 Morris' 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 Matthew Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids.