Prevention Matters

A Senate committee takes up a bill this week that would allow the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate tobacco. The House has already approved the legislation, and the Washington Post's Lyndsey Layton reports that both advocates and opponents of the bill "say they believe Congress is finally ready to regulate tobacco. Even so, skeptics are not comforted by the fact that tobacco manufacturer Altria supports the bill and spent $4.29 million on lobbying in the first quarter of 2009.