Regulation of tobacco by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Most state laws dealt with the sale of tobacco products, including the issue of selling to minors and licensing of distributors.

[2] In 1964, Surgeon General Luther Terry issued a report on smoking and health saying that tobacco causes lung cancer and is a main contributor to bronchitis.

However, legislation ultimately passed by Congress required a warning label with less dire language: "CAUTION: CIGARETTE SMOKING MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH.

President Barack Obama, who has himself struggled with smoking addiction,[citation needed] praised the law, saying that it will save American lives.

[citation needed] The Obama administration had previously voiced support for such an act, while former President George W. Bush had threatened to veto the law after it had passed the United States House of Representatives in 2008.

[citation needed] Much opposition to the law from Congress came from tobacco-growing states such as North Carolina, whose representatives said they felt that the FDA was not fit to take on the large task of regulating tobacco products.

[citation needed] The act gives the FDA comprehensive control on tobacco products for sale in the United States.

The main purpose of the committee is to assess health and safety issues concerning tobacco products, and then provide advice, information, or recommendations to the Commissioner of Food and Drugs based on their findings.

In addition, they argued against the ban on publicizing relative risk claims about their products, which would apply to light cigarettes and various forms of smokeless tobacco on First Amendment grounds.

Judge McKinley, Jr. ruled that a full ban of graphics and colors on all advertisements and packaging does infringe on the First Amendment rights of tobacco companies to communicate with their adult consumers without reasonably limiting the products’ appeal to youths.

He ruled that requiring enlarged warnings on packaging is reasonable because it serves to better alert the public about adverse health effects of smoking.

According to its website, Philip Morris has favored "tough but reasonable federal regulation of tobacco products by the Food and Drug Administration."