Senate gives FDA power over Big Tobacco

The Senate passed a historic bill today that gives the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate the tobacco industry. There have been some hurdles for such a bill in the 45 years since the surgeon general's warning about cigarettes. But now, it looks like we're only days away from the House passing the Senate bill, called the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, followed by a quick signature from President Obama (he co-sponsored the bill when he was still a senator). "With broad bipartisan support in both the Senate and House, and a campaign pledge by Barack Obama to sign such legislation if he became president, the anti-tobacco forces came into alignment," reports The New York Times.