Kennedy Wants Cigarette Risks Regulated in Obama-Backed Bill

January 7, 2009

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601205 & sid=aZYZJcAbHWOE

By Rob Waters

Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration would have the power to regulate tobacco under legislation that Senator Edward Kennedy will introduce.

Kennedy, who sponsored a similar proposal that failed last year after President George W. Bush threatened a veto, expects that President-elect Barack Obama will support the measure, said the senator’s spokeswoman, Melissa Wagoner, in an e-mailed statement yesterday. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, chairs the Senate Health Committee.

The House of Representatives voted 326-102 last year to put the FDA in charge of regulating the health risks of smoking. Bush opposed it, saying the measure would strain the agency and undermine its credibility. The measure didn’t get a Senate vote, although the chamber’s version had 59 co-sponsors, including Obama, then a senator from Illinois.

“This bill enjoys broad bipartisan support,” Wagoner said. “We plan to reintroduce it early in this new Congress, pass it and send it to President Obama for his signature.”

Smoking is linked to one in five deaths in the U.S. Lawmakers in Congress have failed five times since 2000 to give health regulators the authority to oversee tobacco. Last year’s legislation would have required the FDA to regulate tobacco ingredients, advertising and the introduction of new products, while not allowing the agency to ban tobacco entirely.

Like last year’s bill, the new measure will include a compromise sought by Altria Group Inc.’s Philip Morris USA, the nation’s biggest tobacco maker, to exclude menthol from a ban on added flavorings in cigarettes. Menthol cigarettes make up a quarter of sales, with black smokers the largest users.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Waters in San Francisco at rwaters5. Last Updated: January 6, 2009 08:46 EST

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