House Votes to Let FDA Regulate Tobacco

The House passed landmark legislation yesterday to bring the tobacco industry under the regulatory control of the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA wouldn't have the power to ban cigarettes under the bill, but it could order nicotine levels in cigarettes reduced and restrict other harmful ingredients, reports the New York Times. The bill comes before the Senate in the fall.

The bill also bans labels like "light" and "ultra light," proposes more explicit and graphic warning labels. It passed by a wide margin in the House, 326 to 102, in part because of support from Philip Morris, the largest US cigarette company, which split with other tobacco companies to endorse it. Support in the Senate is expected to be strong, but not necessarily strong enough to overcome an expected White House veto.
(More tobacco stories.)