May 22, 2013
A bipartisan group of senators wants to give the FDA power to regulate all tobacco products.
This means the FDA would have authority over advertising and the listing of all ingredients in cigarettes.
Massachusetts Democrat Ted Kennedy says the FDA needs more than "half-way" measures to protect children from the tobacco industry.
Ohio Republican Mike DeWine insists this is a child health issue and said the White House may not oppose it.
A spokesman for the Lorillard Tobacco Company said the bill is unreasonable. Still, there might be room for some compromise.
The head of the National Tobacco Growers Association said farmers are in desperate financial shape and would consider a bill that also would pay farmers to stop growing tobacco.
