New rules, deadly business

Albany Times Union Editorial
First published in print: Monday, June 15, 2009

Two thoughts above all on the tobacco regulation bill that's headed for President Obama's signature. First comes the obvious kudos. This is another victory in a long war by public health interests against the vast sums of money and formidable political clout of Big Tobacco.

Second, though, is this uneasy question. Why did it take this long to pass legislation that's so notable not only for what it achieves but also for what it fails to do, namely impose measures that some of the most ardent anti-smoking activists concede are beyond the politics of the possible?

It's been 44 years, remember, since the government began requiring warning labels -- tenuous, even mild, initially -- to be placed on each package of cigarettes. It's been 38 years since tobacco advertising was banned from TV and radio and 19 years since smoking has been prohibited on airlines.

Time, of course, is measured in the starkest of terms when it comes to more aggressive regulation of the tobacco industry. Each year, more than 400,000 people die from various smoking-related diseases.

So here we are in 2009, and the President -- himself a smoker who's determined to quit -- is ready to sign into law the first regulations of tobacco products.

Tobacco companies will have to reveal at last just what's in cigarettes and other products. The federal Food and Drug Administration will have the power to change what's in those products.

The FDA also will be able to regulate the marketing and sale of tobacco products, particularly toward underage customers.

No new tobacco products will come on the legal market without the FDA's marketing approval. Most of the flavorings the tobacco companies use to lure new, mostly very young, smokers will be banned.

"Joe Camel has been sentenced and put away forever," come the triumphant words of Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill.

If only governing were that simple.

The FDA still won't be able to order nicotine removed from tobacco products altogether. It can't outlaw those products, either.

Congress and the President have tightened the rules under which tobacco companies will be able to keep making the profits selling products that kill too many people.

Keep that in mind as you encounter what might sound like the tone of resignation and retreat by tobacco company executives. Here, for example, is Maura Payne of R.J. Reynolds.

"As society's views on the product have changed, that's being reflected in the kind of legislation being passed," she says.

Rough translation: People may hate us, but we're still in business.

There's more work to be done. The 11 percent reduction in youth smoking and the 2 percent reduction in adult smoking that the new laws are expected to bring about are encouraging, of course. But they aren't enough.

The issue:

The FDA will be able to regulate tobacco products.

The Stakes:

Lives will be saved. But even more need to be spared.

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