ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 16, 1996 TAG: 9610160064
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N.C.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Kentucky and North Carolina challenged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's authority to regulate tobacco in federal court briefs filed Tuesday.
``Congress has always been responsible for placing health and advertising restrictions on tobacco products and for exercising authority over tobacco itself,'' North Carolina Attorney General Mike Easley said.
``Now, suddenly, the FDA wants to take over that authority, and the bottom line is they can't.''
Kentucky's brief said it ``speaks as a grower and retailer of tobacco directly affected'' by proposed FDA regulations.
Tobacco companies and ad agencies filed lawsuits challenging those rules in 1995, when federal regulators were still in the planning stages.
The ``friend of the court'' briefs filed Tuesday supported a request for summary judgment - a ruling without a trial - in favor of the plaintiffs, which include Philip Morris Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., the No.1 and No.2 U.S. cigarette makers.
U.S. District Judge William Osteen set a hearing on the motion for Feb. 10, and has given the FDA until Dec. 2 to file its response.
``We have full confidence in our legal position and we'll answer their arguments in court,'' FDA spokesman Jim O'Hara said.
President Clinton in August approved FDA plans to classify nicotine as an addictive drug, thereby giving the agency authority to regulate cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.
The proposed regulations ``violate the separation of powers principle that is the bedrock of our Constitution,'' said Easley, whose brief names Gov. Jim Hunt and Agriculture Secretary Jim Graham as plaintiffs.
LENGTH: Short : 41 linesby CNB