President--Elect Barack Obama and Tobacco..

November 12, 2008 - With President Bush no longer a roadblock, health officials also can expect new powers to control tobacco, from cigarettes to the recently introduced smokeless products called snus.

President-elect Obama, a former smoker struggling to avoid relapse, is a sponsor of Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (H.R. 1108/S. 625) legislation giving the FDA authority to control, but not ban, tobacco and nicotine.


American Association of Public Health Physicians believes that this bill is so distorted (in its present form)in favor of Altria–Philip Morris that, if passed in its current form, it will do more harm than good in terms of future levels of teen smoking and future rates of tobacco-related illness and death. It can protect cigarettes or it can protect the public's health. It cannot do both. (Joel L. Nitzkin, M.D., M.P.H., FDA Regulation of Tobacco, New Eng. J. Med. 359: 2070-2071, (Nov 6) 2008.)

As Senator Michael B. Enzi (R-WY) has pointed out, "Poison peddlers shouldn’t get to decide how we as responsible legislators fight the war against their deadly products."

Revise Senate's Version FDA Tobacco Regulation Bill..

"An Obama administration would swing the pendulum back more to protection of public health," said William Hubbard, a retired FDA official who held top posts. "This bodes well for greater regulation in the food safety area, on imports, and on drug safety."

Senator Barack Obama's Tobacco Control History compiled by Clifford E. Douglas, Esq. Executive Director, University of Michigan Tobacco Research Network, 3/8/2008.

Reference: Obama expected to bolster FDA oversight of imports by RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, 11/7/2008.