Senate debates FDA regulation of tobacco

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate began debate Tuesday on whether to grant the Food and Drug Administration power to regulate tobacco products, a proposal that has divided the cigarette industry but won over health advocates.

A bill written by Democrats would let the FDA oversee the packaging, marketing and manufacturing of cigarettes and other tobacco products, which have been linked to cancer and other illnesses and kill 400,000 Americans each year.

In an 84-11 procedural vote, the Senate agreed to start debate, which could continue into next week. Democrats have said they have enough votes to approve the tobacco legislation but the margin could be slim.

Reaction from tobacco companies has been mixed. Altria Group Inc's Philip Morris unit, the nation's largest cigarette maker, supports the bill. But other companies, such as Reynolds American Inc's R.J. Reynolds Tobacco unit and Lorillard Inc's Lorillard Tobacco Co, do not.

President Barack Obama, who has publicly admitted his own struggles to quit smoking, has said he supports the measure. FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg also backs it, as do hundreds of advocacy groups such as the American Cancer Society.

A similar proposal has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives. Differences between the two versions would have to be worked out by congressional negotiators before a final bill could be signed into law by Obama.

Supporters of the bill say the new oversight will curb the tobacco industry's heavy marketing, which critics charge encourages children to smoke.

"Every day ... another 3,500 to 4,000 children are ensnared by tobacco products (and) targeted with impunity as they try tobacco products for the first time," said Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd, who helped push the bill through the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.