FDA on the verge of getting congressional approval to regulate tobacco  

Congresswoman Lois Capps and other public health advocates have a hard time understanding why it has taken so long to convince the federal government that tobacco should be regulated as a drug.

"It is a drug," said Capps, a registered nurse. "It's very addictive. It's so deadly."

It has taken years, but the Food and Drug Administration finally appears on the verge of getting Congress' approval to regulate cigarettes and other tobacco products.

The Senate is expected to vote as early as this week . . .

Rep Elton Gallegly, a conservative Republican from Simi Valley, supports FDA regulation of tobacco and voted for the bill when it passed the House in April.

"I don't really believe I should legislate whether people use tobacco or they don't use tobacco," Gallegly said. "But I do think we need to have oversight on the products that are going out so that people know what they are getting into."

Both of California senators -- Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer -- support FDA regulation and have signed on as cosponsors of the legislation.

Capps, a Santa Barbara Democrat who last year tangled with a dozen magazines over glossy advertising for a new cigarette marketed to young women, credits anti-smoking groups with raising awareness about the dangers of smoking and for helping build public support for government regulation of tobacco products.

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