A Look At What's Roled Up In The Tobacco Law
Monday, June 22, 2009PAUL KANGAS: In the eyes of the Federal government, tobacco is now akin to a drug. President Obama signed a law giving the Food and Drug Administration unprecedented authority to regulate tobacco products. The president's signature ends a long battle by public health advocates to have the industry brought under the FDA's watch. Stephanie Dhue reports.
STEPHANIE DHUE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: The bill President Obama signed today is aimed at keeping cigarettes out of the hands of the next generation of potential smokers. The president includes himself in the smoking statistics.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Each day, 1,000 young people under the age of 18 become new regular daily smokers and almost 90 percent of all smokers began at or before their 18th birthday. I know I was one of these teenagers, so I know how difficult it can be to break this habit when it's been with you for a long time.
DHUE: The FDA will create a new office to regulate the content of cigarettes and how they are marketed and sold. Light and low-tar cigarettes must get FDA approval before being marketed. But the law also limits the FDA, prohibiting the agency from banning tobacco products outright. Since it could take up to three years for the FDA's new office to get up and running, analyst Philip Gorham expects the impact to take a while to be felt.
PHILIP GORHAM, TOBACCO ANALYST, MORNINGSTAR: In the longer term, I think it'll cement current market shares into place, which is great for the market leader Altria and not so great for those rivals trying to chip away at its leading market share.
DHUE: Some anti-smoking advocates say the legislation doesn't add much new, but consumer advocate Sidney Wolfe disagrees. He says the FDA now has the tools to be tough on tobacco.
DR. SIDNEY WOLFE, DIR., PUBLIC CITIZEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH GROUP: The FDA, with an adequate amount of legal authority and an adequate amount of will at the top to enforce the law, can do a good job. Whenever, whether it is prescription drugs, for example, they have not done a good job. It isn't because they don't have enough authority; it's because the people leading the agency don't have the will to enforce the law.
DHUE: A seeming stamp of FDA approval could make it harder for smokers or their families to sue the industry. But Wolfe doesn't think that will happen.
WOLFE: The idea that because this is regulated by the government that you can't sue has been thrown out recently for prescription drugs. It is highly unlikely that someone who has been injured by tobacco will not have any rights in court to sue.
DHUE: If you're a smoker, expect to pay more for your cigarettes. The new FDA office will be paid for by the cigarette makers, who are likely to cover their cost by tacking $0.06 on to the price of a pack. Stephanie Dhue, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.
