This week, Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., introduced the “Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act,” a bill giving the Food and Drug Administration regulatory control over tobacco. The bill would restrict advertising, require testing of tobacco products, and impose other regulations.
An important detail about this bill is left out of many stories covering it: Philip Morris supports the bill [pdf]. The reasons are many, and it is not just about “warding off stronger regulation” or “appeasing the Democrats.” I wrote my column about this a month ago after the House passed it.
