As expected, the U.S. House of Representatives this morning strongly endorsed new, extensive legislation to regulate tobacco.
The House voted 307-97 to back a Senate version of the bill seals a legislative battle that has stretched over a decade.
The Food and Drug Administration will begin regulating tobacco products with sweeping new powers that will affect everything from cigarette content to marketing. President Barack Obama is expected to move quickly to sign it into law.
Under the bill, the addictive chemical of nicotine could be drastically reduced — though not eliminated. The FDA could alter other chemical content, potentially changing both the taste and potentially the health impacts of tobacco content.
Warnings would cover at least half of tobacco packages. Advertising would be restricted to black-and-white. No tobacco product could be marketed as "reduced risk" without extensive scientific backup.
More after the jump.
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Candy-like tobacco lozenges and sweet-flavored products would be pulled off the market.
Health advocates overwhelmingly endorsed the legislation, saying it will save thousands of deaths from smoking-related diseases, including an estimated 44,000 in North Carolina.
The Senate passed the legislation 79-17 on Thursday. The House previously passed a similar version in May on a 298-112 vote.
Much of the opposition came from tobacco states, including North Carolina. The state is the nation’s No. 1 grower of tobacco.
"It is my belief that allowing FDA to regulate tobacco in any capacity would inevitably lead to FDA regulating the family farm," said U.S. Rep. Howard Coble, a Republican from Greensboro, N.C., home to No. 3 tobacco company Lorillard, maker of Newports. Coble voted against the bill.
"This could create uncertainty for family farmers at a time when they are already struggling during the economic downturn."
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