Food and Drug Administration

Obama signs tobacco bill

bkrueger — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:22:54 -0400

WASHINGTON – The Food and Drug Administration now has authority to regulate tobacco products, under a new law signed this afternoon by President Barack Obama during a Rose Garden ceremony.

With children on stage and sprinkled among audience members, and with the new playground for the presidential daughters in the distance, Obama said the new law will curtail the “constant, insidious” advertising that tobacco companies target to kids, reports Barb Barrett.

He pointed out that nearly 90 percent of smokers start before the age of 18.

“I know; I was one of those teenagers,” Obama said. “I know how hard it is to break the habit once you’ve started.”

Among those at the White House this afternoon was U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a Democrat from Wilson, where auctioneers used to rattle off leaf prices after harvest each fall. He represents one of the heaviest tobacco farming districts in the nation.

“This has been a very difficult issue for me,” Butterfield said later. “But when I take a step back and look at it objectively, there’s no question we need to reduce smoking….We need to be realistic about the issue.”

Troxler, farmers object to bill

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:07:26 -0400

Tobacco growers told Congress their industry is under siege.

State Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler joined a chorus of North Carolina farmers who said that tobacco manufacturing jobs are "under siege" from tax increases at a hearing in the House agriculture committee.

"The last thing North Carolina, or any state, needs right now is more lost jobs," Troxler said.

The state's tobacco crop was worth $686 million last year, and the industry pumped $24 billion into the economy with more than 10,000 jobs.

The farmers oppose a bill that would give the Food and Drug Administration oversight over tobacco. They back an alternative proposed by Sens. Kay Hagan and Richard Burr that would create a new agency.

Rep. Mike McIntyre said the goal is to keep regulators off farms.

"The last thing we want is for government bureaucrats to be coming on the farm," he said. (Char-O)

Tobacco groups gave $355k to Burr

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:46:55 -0400

Tobacco interests have given U.S. Sen. Richard Burr $355,000.

Since he was elected to Congress in 1995, the Winston-Salem Republican has received substantial money from tobacco companies and employees.

He was second only to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who has accepted $390,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Burr's biggest contributor, with $194,000, is R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and its parent company, which are based in Winston-Salem.

"Senator Burr has represented the state for a long time, either in the Senate or the House, and I think through that long representation he has done an excellent job of being receptive to business issues of all types," said Maura Payne, a spokeswoman for Reynolds American. "Given that receptivity, we have supported his campaigns."

Burr and Sen. Kay Hagan co-sponsored a bill that would create a new agency to regulate tobacco, an alternative to a more popular bill to put the Food and Drug Administration in charge of oversight.

Update: Hagan received $19,450 from tobacco contributors in 2008. (Char-O)

Tobacco down in North Carolina

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:20:18 -0400

Tobacco farming, production and sales have dropped in North Carolina in recent years.

That's according to data collected by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which is lobbying for the Food and Drug Administration to be given regulatory control over tobacco.

From 1992 to 2007, the number of tobacco farms in North Carolina has dropped from 17,625 to 2,622, a 79 percent drop. Total farm acreage dedicated to tobacco went from 283,900 to 170,083, a 47 percent drop.

Tobacco manufacturing has gone down as well, from 12,268 jobs in 1997 to 8,760 in 2006, a 29 percent drop.

And even the sale of cigarettes has gone down, from 922.5 million packs in 1998 to 669.9 million packs in 2008, a 27 percent drop.

Data comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a U.S. Census Bureau survey of manufacturers and industry-funded research.

Previously: North Carolina senators oppose FDA regulation.