Tobacco regulation passes House

By NEIL H. SIMON
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE

Cigarettes would be subject to government regulation for the first time ever under a bill passed yesterday by the U.S. House.
But the bill, which passed with a veto-proof 326-102 vote, now faces an uphill climb in the Senate, where a similar bill has been stalled since last August.
Rep. Eric I. Cantor, R-7th, said the bill (HR 1108) would encourage work to make tobacco products -- blamed for killing about 400,000 Americans a year -- less harmful. He said the bill would protect the 5,600 Richmond-area jobs supplied by Philip Morris USA.
"The net result to all of us will be to increase the health outlook for consumers of tobacco," said Cantor, the top House recipient of tobacco-industry campaign contributions.
M. Cass Wheeler, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association, said: "You don't start celebrating when the ball is on the 10-yard line. This will all be for nothing if we don't score a touchdown with a win in the Senate."
The legislation, which has divided the tobacco industry, would give the Food and Drug Administration the power to curtail marketing further; control nicotine levels; and enlarge government warning labels on all tobacco products.
Philip Morris USA, the nation's leading cigarette manufacturer, is the only cigarette maker to support the FDA regulation bill publicly.
"We think today's vote by the House of Representatives is an important step forward on this legislation," said Bill Phelps, a spokesman for Henrico County-based Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris USA.
"Such regulation could benefit consumers, shareholders and other stakeholders."
Three of Virginia's 11 members of Congress voted against the bill: Reps. J. Randy Forbes, R-4th, Virgil H. Goode Jr., R-5th, and Robert W. Goodlatte, R-6th.
The bill -- dubbed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act -- would ban most flavored cigarettes, except for menthol.

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