Tobacco Bill will Aid Farmers

Source from:  Jeff Nesbit And Scott D. Ballin By Henry West, Rod Kuegel 05/18/2004

Congress has a unique opportunity this year to forever change the way in which we deal with tobacco in this country. For those who will open their eyes and stop playing politics with the lives of so many people, this is a win/win scenario -- one that Republicans and Democrats, tobacco state and non-tobacco state members can take credit for. The use of tobacco continues to be a significant cause of disease in the United States. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of tobacco farmers, their families and entire communities are withering on the vine. The illegal trafficking and smuggling of cigarettes continues to be a national and international problem -- hurting not only the coffers of national and state governments but also tobacco growers and public health. While it might seem that these issues are unrelated, they are significantly intertwined. Dealing with these issues will require enactment of integrated comprehensive reforms that focus on bringing the production, manufacturing and marketing of tobacco and tobacco products into the 21st century. The current tobacco program under which farmers have operated since 1938 is outdated and no longer serves their needs. To effectively remove the old system, growers should be provided fair compensation for the "equity" Congress has given them. Once that is done, a new system designed to ensure effective oversight and controls over the production, processing and distribution of domestic and imported tobacco leaf needs to be put in place. That system not only should serve the needs of those continuing to produce tobacco (and keep jobs in the United States) but the public health as well. Much can and should be done to improve the health and safety of domestic and imported leaf, and U.S. growers are in a position to lead the way in setting new world standards. Equally important to modernizing the agricultural sector are reforms in the manufacturing sector. For that, strong, effective and fair regulation of tobacco products by the Food and Drug Administration is needed. We need effective laws to prevent the access and sale of tobacco products to children and adolescents. We need laws that provide adult users of tobacco with complete, truthful, accurate and balanced information about the risks and relative risks of using tobacco products. We need a system under which all tobacco manufacturers play by the same set of rules -- rules that serve public health goals while fostering real competition between companies. There is no reason that tobacco products should be held to lower standards than other products (foods, drugs) that we ingest into our bodies. Tobacco companies must now demonstrate real corporate responsibility for the manufacture and sale of their products. They must accept that because tobacco and tobacco products are hazardous, it is in the companies' and their consumers' best interests that there be meaningful oversight over the production and manufacture of tobacco and tobacco products. Companies whose goal is only to profit at the expense of growers and public health and who circumvent standards of corporate good conduct should not be allowed to compete in the marketplace. Congress has a choice: Pass legislation that serves the interests of public health, growers and responsible manufacturers and that includes: Providing the FDA with fair but effective oversight over manufactured tobacco products; Reforming the manner in which tobacco is grown and produced -- and which provides fair compensation to tobacco growers. Cracking down on the illegal trafficking of tobacco products. Or Congress can do nothing and watch tobacco-producing communities and public health continue to suffer. Congress can act now or pay the consequences for its inactions later. For those of us who have worked together on these issues, the choice is obvious. Enditem