THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, September 14, 1995           TAG: 9509140369
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: GREENSBORO                         LENGTH: Short :   49 lines

TOBACCO FIRMS SUE TO BAR FDA FROM SETTING 18 AS SMOKING AGE

Some cigarette manufacturers say a U.S. Food and Drug Administration plan to establish a national minimum smoking age is unconstitutional.

Five cigarette makers have filed a legal challenge to an FDA proposal banning cigarette sales to anyone under 18.

The latest court papers, filed in Greensboro, amend the industry's Aug. 10 lawsuit seeking to block the FDA from regulating tobacco.

In the amended lawsuit, the industry claims any attempt by the FDA to impose a national minimum age for smoking would exceed the federal government's authority under the Constitution.

The five cigarette makers that filed the lawsuit are Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Lorillard, Brown & Williamson and Liggett Group.

``We don't believe they (FDA) have authority to assert jurisdiction, and we're going to challenge every aspect of that,'' said Thomas Lauria, a spokesman for the Tobacco Institute, a Washington-based lobbying group.

Lauria added that the FDA's proposal is redundant because every state now prohibits cigarette sales to minors. In three states - Alabama, Alaska and Utah - the minimum age is 19.

Tobacco companies say they have spent millions of dollars on school campaigns to discourage children from smoking and to educate retailers about the need to check identification before they sell cigarettes.

But FDA spokesman Jim O'Hara said such programs are not working. He cited statistics showing that 3,000 U.S. children start smoking everyday.

"The industry's actions continue to speak louder than its words when it comes to trying to prevent children and young people from becoming regular smokers," O'Hara said Tuesday.

Karen Daragan, a spokeswoman for Philip Morris, the nation's largest cigarette maker, insisted that the industry supports keeping cigarettes out of the hands of children.

The lawsuit, she said, is only about preventing the FDA from asserting control over tobacco.

``Our position is we don't need more federal bureaucracy here,'' she said.

``The states have legislation on the books and have the authority to take care of this issue.''

KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT by CNB