In a long lead editorial in yesterday’s paper, the Winston-Salem Journal endorses FDA regulation of tobacco, reasoning that the “government has the right, and the duty, to protect its citizens from harm — especially when all Americans are affected by the health-care costs of a product.”
As for proposed alternative legislation sponsored by Sens. Kay Hagan and Richard Burr that would create a new agency to regulate tobacco, the Journal says “this is not the time to be growing government,” although the measures they’re endorsing would “ultimately cost several times” more than the $100 million price tag Hagan and Burr have estimated their new agency would cost.
Finally, the Journal reasons that Winston-Salem based Reynolds American has had ample opportunity to catch Phillip Morris in an unregulated environment, but Reynolds “has continued to lose cigarette market share.”
Personally, I don’t understand the logic that says ‘we shouldn’t grow government, we should just give it more money.’ But I’m a little naive about such matters.
Meanwhile, Forsyth County commissioners will debate a resolution opposing Gov. Bev Perdue’s $1 per-pack cigarette tax hike. I can’t help but notice that the article identifies the smokers and the non-smokers among commissioners.
