| TOBACCO While headway has been made, there’s a long way to go in the tobacco control debate, both in Congress and in the States. The tobacco settlement announced on November 20 by several State Attorneys’ General and the tobacco industry is seen by the public health community as an incremental step toward achieving positive tobacco control throughout the nation. The settlement has made the debate more complicated. What was once a single front war at the federal level with the tobacco industry will now be a state-by-state battle to provide good public health measures related to tobacco control. The settlement does not provide guidance or requirements for states to use a portion of their payments to reduce or prevent tobacco use by children and youth. One thing is certain from the public health perspective, there continues to be a critical need to pass national tobacco control legislation in this Congress that will protect children and youth. Congress is expected to pass legislation in the 106th session that returns the federal portion of Medicaid dollars from the settlement agreement back to the states. The ENACT coalition is actively seeking to have Congress earmark at least 25 percent of the state tobacco settlement dollars for tobacco control efforts at the state level. In addition, among the other tobacco control issues the public health community is seeking is for Congress to affirm full FDA authority to regulate tobacco products. The debate will continue and will, no doubt be contentious. ENACT had sent a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno in October 1998 urging the Department of Justice to move forward on litigation to take the tobacco companies to court to recover hundreds of billions of dollars spent by Medicare for tobacco related illnesses. In his January 19, 1999, State of the Union Address, President Clinton announced that he has asked the Department of Justice to prepare such a litigation plan. Back to Legislative Report Index Last Modified: March 14, 2001 |