From: [voltai 29] at [chelsea.ios.com] (Voltaire)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,alt.politics.usa.republican,alt.politics.usa.democratic,alt.politics.usa.newt-gingrich,alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
Subject: #Tobacco Companies Launch Last Minute Blitz
Date: Thu, 04 Jan 1996 07:25:54 GMT

Tobacco Companies Launch Last Minute Blitz

Marlene Cimons of The Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON - In a last blitz  before the public comment deadline 
Tuesday, five major cigarette companies, smokers groups and
advertising and trade organizations filed thousands of pages of
documents with the federal government, alleging that the Clinton
administration's proposal to regulate cigarettes is illegal and
unnecessary.

The groups argued that the Food and Drug Administration does not 
have jurisdiction over cigarettes, and that every state already 
prohibits the sale of tobacco to minors.

"What the FDA proposes is a power grab," said a statement issued 
by the Tobacco Institute, which called on the agency to withdraw 
its proposal. "The agency has no legal authority to regulate tobacco 
products."

A lawsuit filed by the industry in a North Carolina court against 
the FDA regulations also is pending.

The FDA's proposals, announced last summer by President Clinton,
establish the FDA's jurisdiction by declaring that nicotine is 
a drug and that cigarettes are drug-delivery systems.

Among other things, the proposals would prohibit tobacco sales 
to those 18 or younger - requiring proof of age for purchase - 
ban all cigarette-vending machines and self-serve displays and 
impose severe restrictions on advertising geared to teens.

The administration proposals are intended to reduce teen smoking 
by 50 percent within seven years of implementation. Recent studies 
have shown no abatement of teen smoking, and, in fact, levels have 
been increasing in recent years.

Also Tuesday, numerous anti-smoking groups issued statements
supporting the FDA proposals, including the National PTA and Coalition
on Smoking OR Health, which is made up of the American Heart
Association, the American Lung Association and the American Cancer
Society.

The attorneys general of 27 states released a letter to FDA
Commissioner David Kessler supporting the proposals, and insisting
that a cooperative effort - that included federal regulations - was
needed to keep cigarettes away from young people.

Steven Parrish, a senior vice president for Philip Morris Companies 
Inc., said the tobacco industry supports efforts to discourage 
smoking by teenagers. "Kids should not smoke; they should not have 
access to tobacco products," he said.

But he said that existing state laws were sufficient to do the 
job and that trade associations, including the retail trade, and 
the law enforcement community should make a greater effort to enforce 
the laws without federal interference.

Philip Morris joined Brown & Williamson, R.J. Reynolds, Lorillard 
and Liggett tobacco companies in submitted 2,000 pages of arguments 
- and an additional 45,000 pages of supporting research - to the 
FDA Tuesday.

The FDA's rules would require $1 billion of the industry up front,
to do everything from shutting down vending machines to ensuring 
that nobody sells to minors, Tobacco Institute attorney David Remes 
said.

Another $1 billion a year would be lost, mostly by advertisers 
who no longer could sell billboards or ads in magazines read by 
teenagers and by store owners who would lose thousands of dollars 
a month from tobacco promotions, Remes added.

Story Number:01073 Story Date: 1/3/96