 | Stricter tobacco regulations pass Senate |
Play video(NECN/ABC) - For those who thought they were just blowing smoke, the United States Senate has finally said 'No' to Big Tobacco.
"There's a new cop on the beat and that new cop on the beat is the FDA," Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Majority Whip Ill.) said.
Fifty years after the surgeon general first warned about the health effects of tobacco, the Senate approved landmark legislation Thursday. It gives the federal government new power to regulate the $89 billion tobacco industry.
The bill restricts advertising to young people, forces cigarette makers to put much larger warnings on each pack and bans flavored cigarettes, which critics said are solely designed to lure children.
The bill also forbids cigarette makers from using words like "light" or "mild", which could give the impression they are less hazardous. It also requires cigarette makers to list all of their ingredients.
"Many of these products contain a lot of poisons and the consumers aren't actually aware of that," American Cancer Society's Daniel Smith said.
For the 20-percent of Americans who smoke, the law means for the first time, the government will have the right to regulate how much nicotine is in cigarettes. It is a bill most tobacco companies and tobacco-state senators have fought since it was first introduced more than a decade ago.
"The United States Senate's made a big mistake. This is not in the public health interest," Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.)
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