House Bill HR-1108

FDA Regulation of Tobacco

AKA: Screw the Smoker, Give Philip Morris and Big Pharma Market Advantage, and set the stage for Prohibition.

The Gist of this Bill


Publicly, HR-1108 is being touted to give the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) an authority to regulate tobacco products. Based on a cursory reading of the guts of this bill, this is what it does specifically (but is not limited to):


  1. •It allows the FDA to regulate the manufacture, quality, packaging, advertising and sale of ALL tobacco products (including smokeless and loose) and related products (like rolling papers). Think about this carefully-


  1. Manufacture - how tobacco products are made or cannot be made

  2. Quality - what they can and cannot contain - not just tar and nicotine, but type of tobacco

  3. Packaging - How the packs/cartons look and what warnings are plastered all over them

  4. Advertising - how they are advertised and where or where not they can be advertised

  5. Sale - where they can and cannot be sold and by whom.


  1. •It specifies the prohibition of any flavor variation in cigarette products, except - tentatively - menthol. It also leaves the door open for other flavor prohibitions. While it does not say, one would guess that clove cigarettes that contain any tobacco would be illegal.


  1. •It allows, in future, for the FDA to further modify tobacco product quality restrictions - that is, it allow future actions by the FDA to, say, mandate reduced tar and nicotine.


  1. •It sets up an expensive regulatory requirement upon all tobacco manufacturers and distributors. Think about this carefully-


  1. While, presumably, all current tobacco products might be granfathered into legality, this bill makes it very difficult for new brands to come to market. This means that any new small tobacco company wishing to put to market new and inexpensive smokes will be at an extreme disadvantage and, in fact, may be unable to do so.


  3. This bill may very well spell the end of any new tobacco companies - competition that would challenge the big, old ones on price and quality.


  1. •It requires annual “user fees” be levied upon tobacco manufacturers AND distributors - user fees starting in the hundreds of millions (In 2010 - $ 235,000,000.00) and increasing each year. You can and SHOULD see this as an end-run around increasing the tobacco tax, as we smokers WILL pay these fees through increased prices.


  1. •It allows the FDA to increase the legal age to purchase tobacco products - yes, it gives the FDA the power to raise the tobacco purchasing age higher than 18 years old across the US.


  1. •And, of course, it gives the Pharmaceutical companies more help in pushing their “stop smoking” medications.


  1. •It also allows the FDA to recommend to congress any further restrictions on tobacco products not allowed under this bill, including the complete prohibition of tobacco products.


This is a very scary bill - it does all that it can to make life more difficult and expensive for the tobacco user, gives an advantage to the biggest tobacco company (Philip Morris) who is best able to deal with and afford the bureaucracy and expense of this bill, provides a distinct disadvantage for small tobacco companies, and sets the stage for tobacco haters in the FDA and Congress to enact prohibition.


Please Click Here to see the complete skinny on this bill in the Library of Congress


Ironically, both the Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt and FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach both OPPOSE this bill and all that it means.



What is the status of this Bill


As of 7/31/08, the House of Representatives had passed this bill with a veto-proof majority - that’s right, a significant chunk of our so-called “limited government, individual liberty” Republicans voted for it, probably partly out of ignorance and partly from heavy lobbying.


It’s in the Senate’s hands now - both this bill and their version, S625.


Thankfully, President Bush has announced a veto of this bill, so it is imperative that you contact your (and many) Senate members and tell them to vote NO on this and their related bill - as long as the Senate’s vote is not Veto-Proof (less than 2/3rds), it should squash it... for now.


It has also been reported (but not substantiated) that Republican Presidential Candidate and Senate member John McCain has expressed support for this bill. I would suggest you contact him and make sure he understands that you, the Voter, do NOT like his alleged support of this bill and urge him to vote NO - His website (click here).


Unlike with the SCHIP bill, I will not separately collate the guilty of the House vote by state and party - it’s just too damn cumbersome. Instead, I link you to the Library of Congress official voting record:


US House vote on HR 1108 (click here).


I suggest you find the name of your House representative, see how he voted and vote accordingly come November 2008. And remember, a Republican majority is worthless unless those Republicans will act like Republicans - those that don’t, they don’t belong in office.


Find your congressmen’s contact information at these links:


House of Representatives                Senate