FDA Regulation of Nicotine On The Horizon

We here at TWM have in the past called for legislation that would grant the FDA authority to regulate nicotine as a drug, and it appears that Congress is finally close to granting such authority. Such a move is long overdue considering the cigarette manufacturer's well-documented lack of regard for human life. The Bush administration is opposed (you expected otherwise) but the best reason not to enact such legislation that Congressional Republicans can come up with is that the FDA already has enough on it's plate, a flimsy excuse even were it to happen to be true (and one that manufacturers like RJ Reynolds have been quick to include in none-too-convincing ads.) Of course, oversight will hardly begin to make up for the enormous cost in life and public money that decades of illegality produced, but it is a start to bringing an end to an era in which American companies could produce a product that, when it works as intended, kills people.