WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Sunday President Bush would review a presidential commission's recommendations on curbing tobacco use and increasing the federal tax on cigarettes by 17 cents.
The report, scheduled to be released on Monday by a commission appointed last September by former President Bill Clinton, calls on Congress to empower the Food and Drug Administration to oversee the manufacture, sale, marketing, distribution and labeling of tobacco products.
A White House spokeswoman declined comment on the specifics of the report, which is already being hailed by various public health organizations, but underscored the president's commitment to curbing youth smoking.
"He's going to review the recommendations," the spokeswoman said. "The president recognizes that there is a high number of youth that are smoking and using tobacco products and he supports tough laws to crack down on kids smoking."
The 10-member commission also recommends greater federal support for programs aimed at preventing youths from starting to smoke in the first place, as well as programs to help smokers kick the habit.
The White House did not address the commission's recommendation to raise the 34-cent-a-pack cigarette tax by 17 cents to pay tobacco farmers to stop growing the crop, a proposal sure to draw fire from tobacco companies who have argued that cigarettes are already taxed at a high rate.
The tax rose by 10 cents a pack in 2000 and is already slated to go up another five cents next year.
"The president's focus has been in Texas and will continue to be on cracking down on youth smoking," the White House spokeswoman said. "Three thousand kids become tobacco users of some sort each year," she added.
The commission included farmers, health advocates and economic experts, who studies ways to protect the public from smoking hazards and give tobacco growers economic incentives to raise other crops.
Smoking accounts for at least 30 percent of all cancer deaths in the United States, and is a major cause of heart and lung disease, according to the American Cancer Society.
The FDA tried to crack down on cigarette sales to minors in 1996, but the Supreme Court last year decided in a 5-4 ruling that the agency lacked constitutional authority to regulate tobacco, and needed approval by Congress to do so.
Bush Cabinet members have cautiously signaled their support for congressional action to give FDA the authority to regulate tobacco.
Reuters May 13 2001 7:57PM