ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 10, 1996 TAG: 9612100109
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
TOBACCO LOOKS to be one of the more interesting political issues dividing Lt. Gov. Don Beyer and Attorney General Jim Gilmore, next year's presumptive candidates for governor of Virginia.
Both politicians have staked out positions that are a mix of right and wrong. But, in what remains a tobacco state, Beyer's criticism of the industry is more principled and courageous than Gilmore's defense of it.
Speaking to the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation last week, Beyer insisted he has nothing against tobacco growers. "I respect the hard-working men and women who are the heirs to generations of small family farmers in Virginia," he said. "I understand the long tradition and heritage of tobacco growing in Virginia."
The point of cracking down on cigarette smoking isn't to hurt farmers, Beyer said, but to protect children.
Good for him.
Unfortunately, having determined to endure the industry's wrath, the lieutenant governor has gone so far as to support President Clinton's proposals to allow Food and Drug Administration regulation of tobacco.
In fact, the FDA lacks legislative authority over cigarettes; as a practical matter, it's hard to see how the agency can regulate tobacco's safety or efficacy. And the administration's plans to micromanage content and placement of advertising apparently violate First Amendment protections of commercial speech on behalf of a product that remains legal.
Beyer stood on firmer ground when he noted last week the contrast between the numbers of Virginians arrested for selling cigarettes to minors (virtually none), and the numbers of teen-agers in the state who smoke (one in three). Lack of enforcement is a scandal requiring attention no matter who is governor.
"I support whatever is the very best effort to keep kids from smoking," said Beyer. It's not clear whether this means he'll support a hefty increase in the tobacco tax. Nor is it clear how politically risky a crackdown on youth smoking really is with Virginia's increasingly suburbanized electorate. Even so, Beyer's moral impulse and political pluck in taking on tobacco are commendable.
Gilmore, meanwhile, not only has joined a lawsuit challenging the FDA regulations. He has advertised his support of the suit as a defense of Virginia's tobacco economy.
The Republican thereby undermines the challenge to the Clinton proposals by reinforcing suspicions that it is founded less on legal and policy grounds than on the need for tobacco-state politicians to pander for votes and campaign contributions.
Gilmore, in other words, has adopted some right positions for the wrong reasons; Beyer, some wrong positions for the right reasons. The debate is far from over.
LENGTH: Medium: 55 linesby CNB