ANTI-SMOKING activists in the US won a major victory last night when the House of Representatives approved a Bill that would allow government regulation of tobacco products for the first time.
The legislation, which must still be approved by the Senate and signed by US president Barack Obama, would authorise the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to oversee the tobacco industry, including its advertising and marketing campaigns.
The house passed the Bill by 298 votes to 112 but it faces an uphill struggle in the Senate, where it is opposed by representatives of tobacco-producing states.
Most anti-smoking groups back the legislation, which was introduced by California Democrat Henry Waxman and has the support of the White House.
“Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States and is a contributing factor to scores of diseases and conditions inflicting misery upon millions of our citizens,” the Obama administration said in a statement. “Further, tobacco use is a major factor driving the increasing costs of healthcare in the US and accounts for over $100 billion annually in financial costs to the economy.”
Under the new legislation, the FDA could not ban cigarettes or order manufacturers to reduce their nicotine content to zero but it could demand bigger health warnings on cigarette packets and forbid marketing aimed at children.
The agency, which regulates the food and pharmaceutical industries in the US, would have to approve all new tobacco products and would ban all artificial flavouring of cigarettes apart from menthol and tobacco flavours.
The FDA could also ban cigarette companies from marketing their products as “mild” or “low tar”. A new FDA office, financed by fees from the tobacco industry, could restrict harmful chemicals – including nicotine – in existing tobacco products.
Some anti-smoking activists are troubled that Philip Morris, the biggest cigarette manufacturer in the US, supports the legislation.
Philip Morris was ordered this week by an Oregon court to pay almost $80 million (€60 million) in damages to a smoker’s widow for its role in a “a massive, continuous, near-half-century scheme” to hide the risks of smoking.
Federal supervision could make such rewards less likely because cigarette manufacturers will be able to argue that their products are authorised by the government.
Rival tobacco companies, which oppose the legislation, fear it will reinforce Philip Morris’s dominant position in the market because the FDA is unlikely to approve many new tobacco products.
Mr Waxman said it had taken more than a decade to regulate tobacco since the FDA first sought that role and the US supreme court ruled that it needed congressional approval to take on such powers.
“We’ve come to what I hope will be an historic occasion, and that is finally doing something about the harm that tobacco does to thousands and thousands of Americans who die each year, and stopping the attempt to get our children to smoke,” said Mr Waxman.
“It has taken us far too long to get to this point.”