Curbing a harmful industry

Monday, April 6, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

A legal product that causes or hastens the deaths of an estimated 400,000 people in the United States every year could finally come under federal oversight.

The product is tobacco, which is used by tens of millions of Americans despite its multitude of noxious ingredients.

Nicotine, the addictive, brain-altering chemical most closely associated with cigarettes and cigars, is just one of thousands of dangerous chemicals in tobacco. Among them, tar and carbon monoxide alone can cause lung cancer and heart disease, as well as severe respiratory problems.

Although legal agreements over the years have curbed the false and misleading advertising that once characterized tobacco — such as magazine layouts that proclaimed cigarettes were good for you — the industry remains unregulated.

That will change dramatically if a House bill that passed overwhelmingly last week becomes law. Sponsored by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the bill would give the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate how tobacco is pitched to the public as well as authority to inform the public about tobacco’s exact makeup.

Known as the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, the bill would also give the FDA the power to oversee tobacco products’ ingredients and the power to prohibit offerings attractive to children, such as flavored cigarettes.

The labeling of tobacco products would also come under the FDA’s supervision, meaning the days of cigarette packs stamped with the words “low tar” or “light” could be over and warnings about health risks could become much more prominent. Regulations would also be written to limit the type of events, such as sports, that tobacco companies could sponsor.

The bill contains a provision assessing fees on the tobacco industry large enough to cover the cost of a new FDA division charged with writing the regulations and providing continuous oversight.

We see a lot of good coming from this bill, which President Barack Obama has said he supports. It almost certainly would result in fewer smokers, and though tobacco cannot be made safe, it could be made safer through the regulation of its contents.