Food and Drug Administration regulation of tobacco products: introduction.

T his past July, the US Senate voted 78 to 15 to grant the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco products. The proposed, precedent setting legislation is part of a larger tax bill and is also tied to a controversial tobacco growers’ buyout. In order to become law, the Senate version of the Bill, sponsored by Republican Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio and Democrat Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, must be harmonised with a proposed, far weaker House of Representatives Bill that does not include FDA regulation. Ultimate passage of a revised Bill is not likely to occur until some time in 2005, if at all. If key senators carry out their threat to block passage of watered down House legislation, the regulatory debate may have to wait for another day, or year. Among its many provisions, the Senate version of the Bill: