14 DAY TRIAL // As we reported at the end of last month, the Food and Drug Administration is about to get increased powers over the tobacco industry soon, if the bill setting forth a new legislative frame on the matter is adopted by the Senate. The House of Representatives has already passed the proposals along party lines in April, with a 15-to-8 vote, and now the federal agency is a short way away from gaining the capacity to order tobacco companies around.
It will be able to control the amount of nicotine in each pack, and also to dictate the warning texts that cigarette manufacturers have to place on their products. Additionally, the FDA will also be able to restrict or ban ads that may affect children, with the power to decide what is appropriate and what not left solely up to its internal panels. There is little the industry can do to stop this measure, as the Senate is very likely to adopt it, and then send it to President Barack Obama, who has already expressed support for the initiative.
On Wednesday, the legislative pack cleared a procedural hurdle in the Senate, and moved even closer to being approved. In a 60-to-37 vote, senators agreed to limit the debate time for the proposals, and to move towards implementing them as soon as possible. A final vote on the issue is expected to take place today, Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd says, quoted by Reuters. His party has the majority in the Senate, and the official adds that the bills will pass no matter what. Obama, who is trying to quit smoking as well, also showed great support for the laws since they were first proposed.
“All of us believe the time has come to act to protect our nation's children. Every day we delay another 3,000, 4,000 children begin to smoke,” Dodd said last month. The documents state an approximate 400,000 yearly deaths could be avoided by giving the FDA new powers. That's the number of people who die in the US each year on account of lung cancer, heart and circulatory diseases, or other tobacco-generated conditions, according to official statistics. Tobacco companies are divided on the issue, with some saying that they will comply, and others voicing their disapproval.