Bill advances efforts toward FDA regulation of tobacco

Public health advocates view this step as critical to curbing tobacco's public health threat.

By Stephanie Stapleton, AMNews staff. April 2, 2001.

Washington -- Flanked by members of the public health community, a bipartisan group of lawmakers advanced legislation March 15 to reignite federal efforts to regulate tobacco products.

The measure, with original sponsors including Rep. Greg Ganske, MD (R, Iowa), John Dingell (D, Mich.), and Rep. Henry Waxman, (D, Calif.), would give the Food and Drug Administration authority over cigarettes. "This is not a tax bill -- not a prohibition bill. But the legislation does give FDA authority to regulate tobacco," said Dr. Ganske.

The bill's introduction occurred almost a year after the Supreme Court ruled that the FDA does not have explicit jurisdiction to regulate tobacco products until Congress directly empowers it to do so.

"Our legislation would not ban the use of tobacco products by adults; however, it would treat it as it should be -- a serious public health threat," said Dingell, the ranking member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

The bill received the backing of the AMA and other health organizations and tobacco-control advocates. "The FDA regulates the food we consume and the drugs we use to treat illness; deadly tobacco products certainly do not deserve privileged status," said AMA Trustee J. Edward Hill, MD. "It's just common sense that the FDA should regulate tobacco products. ... This bill is a terrific opportunity for Congress and the president to show the American people that their health matters."

For the public health community, the necessity of ensuring FDA jurisdiction has to do with correcting what many consider to be an existing irony. [...]