ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 16, 1996 TAG: 9605160172
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
Faced with the threat of federal regulation, the nation's top makers of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco proposed sweeping laws Wednesday to curb teen- age tobacco use.
In return, the companies asked Congress to prohibit the Food and Drug Administration from regulating tobacco products.
Though the proposal hasn't been backed by other tobacco companies and faces substantial obstacles in Congress, it goes a long way toward several goals that anti-tobacco advocates have sought for years.
It represents a change in strategy for Philip Morris Cos., maker of Marlboros, and U.S. Tobacco Co., maker of Skoal, who have been fighting proposed FDA regulation in the courts. And the offer could prompt Congress to restart youth-smoking legislation that has been stalled for months.
Last year, President Clinton proposed that the FDA attack youth smoking by sharply restricting tobacco advertising and limiting youth access to cigarettes. But Clinton has said that he would prefer Congress to pass a tough law addressing youth smoking, so that he does not have to resort to FDA regulation. The tobacco industry has already filed a lawsuit, which could tie up potential regulation for years; Clinton wants a more immediate effect.
White House spokesman Mike McCurry said the companies' proposal included a series of steps along the lines that Clinton had outlined, but still fell short in some areas.
Matthew Myers, general counsel for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, conceded, ``There are a number of very good things in this proposal.'' But he said the proposal also included a series of loopholes and omissions that make the overall effect ``woefully inadequate.''
Myers said the proposal would do nothing to curtail magazine advertising, sponsorship of motor sports events or rodeos, or provide money for an anti-tobacco education fund - all parts of Clinton's proposal
Other major cigarette companies declined to take a stand on the Philip Morris proposal Wednesday. Officials with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Brown & Williamson, the No. 2 and No. 3 cigarette makers in the United States, said they needed time to study it.
On Capitol Hill, House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas Bliley of Virginia, a Republican whose Richmond-area district is close to a large Philip Morris plant, said the company's proposal appears to have little chance of becoming law, especially on the Senate side.
He noted that some Democratic senators, including Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, have threatened a filibuster to block any bill that would prevent the FDA from regulating tobacco.
The tobacco industry has challenged the proposed FDA regulation in court. The companies argue the severe advertising restrictions are unconstitutional limits on free speech.
The firms' legal position was bolstered last week, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Rhode Island law that restricted liquor ads.
One key area of contention in Congress will be whether to prohibit the FDA from regulating cigarettes. Steven Parrish, a senior vice president for Philip Morris, made it clear that without this provision, all bets were off and Philip Morris would withdraw its support from the entire plan.
Emanuel Goldman, who follows the tobacco industry for PaineWebber, said of Philip Morris: ``The one thing they don't want is FDA regulation. Having the FDA regulate cigarettes would be like having the Women's Christian Temperance Union regulate the liquor industry. ... They'd want to kill it.''
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: chart - Tobacco Crackdown color APby CNBnote: below KEYWORDS: MGA