Jump to full article: Raleigh (NC) News & Observer, 2009-06-06
Author: BARBARA BARRETT AND DAVID LIGHTMAN - McClatchy Newspapers
Intro: Sweeping changes in how the government controls tobacco content and marketing are likely to be approved in the U.S. Senate next week despite a strong last-ditch effort by tobacco interests and skepticism from some experts that smokers won't kick their habit.
The bill, passed overwhelmingly by the U.S. House in April and due for a Senate vote as early as Tuesday, would give the Food and Drug Administration broad new authority over tobacco.
"It's a massive move in public policy," said Andrew Taylor, professor of political science at N.C. State University. . . .
Tobacco brought in $686 million in receipts to North Carolina last year, the top cash crop in the state. Tobacco farmers roamed Capitol Hill this week in their Sunday best, visiting aides to Southern senators and hoping for good feedback. They weren't encouraged.
"Oh no, we're not having that kind of impact," said Pender Sharp, who grows 500 acres in Wilson. "We just want to put a face to the bill they're voting on, and talk about the impacts in the community."
State Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler worries that as the FDA shuffles the chemical makeup of cigarettes, the result could influence how farmers grow and cure their leaf.
Farmers could be forced to ditch tobacco varieties that have been engineered to resist disease, for example.
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