FDA Tobacco Regulation Clears Senate Committee

A Senate committee has just voted 13-to-8 in favor of the bill to give the FDA jurisdiction over tobacco products and the tobacco industry.

The bill has been criticized on health grounds because it would make it harder to market reduced-harm tobacco products, such as smokeless tobacco products, to smokers, who would otherwise smoke cigarettes, which are much more likely to cause cancer.

It has also been criticized for violating First Amendment rights to advertise and for undermining competition in the tobacco industry.