by Scott D. Ballin

About the author: Scott D. Ballin is chairman of the Coalition on Smoking OR Health, a group that works to decrease smoking through education and government regulation.

David Kessler, the United States Food and Drug Administration commissioner, is attempting to bring the tobacco industry under his agency’s control. The president and Congress should firmly and publicly back Dr. Kessler as he seeks to regulate tobacco companies.

Congress and the Tobacco Industry

The tobacco industry occupies a special place among Washington’s special interests. One need not look further than the Senate gutting of a proposed tobacco tax that would have helped finance health-care reform. Two Senate committees—Labor and Human Resources and Finance—approved health-care language that included $1.50- and $1-per-pack tobacco taxes, respectively. The members...