The Senate easily passing a bill to empower the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products was bitterweest at best. On the one hand, letting the federal government regulate "cosmetics and pet food" but not cigarettes as the the New York Times‘ Duff Wilson put it has been a national scandal. Lawmakers like Henry Waxman have patiently fought fifteen years to put tobacco regulation under the FDA’s purview and the legislation does that plus makes industry foot the bill for regulation costs.

Unfortunately, Paul Smalera, writing at Slate, makes a persuasive case that the bill is racist. The bill is most obviously bad in banning all cigarette flavor additives except for menthol — the one and only flavor additive that enjoys widespread use. Indeed, 80 percent of African Americans who smoke, smoke menthol cigarettes. In 2006, menthol cigarettes were linked to 15 percent of deaths in the entire African American population. Yet thanks to the heavy hand of Philip Morris, Smalera reports, menthol cigarettes can still be sold while other flavored cigarettes and less dangerous tobacco alternatives were banned.

Optimistically, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act is a good first step. The next step will be regulation that actually protects those most vulnerable to nicotine addiction.-MB

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