Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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__Nation & World__ FDA can't regulate tobacco, high court rules by Laurie Asseo Associated Press Washington —The government lacks authority to regulate tobacco as an ad dictive drug even though tobacco use may be “the single most significant threat to , public health,” the Supreme Court said Tuesday, throwing out the Clinton ad ministration’s main anti-smoking initia tive. The 5-4 ruling said Congress did not authorize the Food and Drug Ad ministration to regulate tobacco. Presi dent Clinton and others immediately said Congress should pass a law letting the FD4 reinstate its rules cracking down on cigarette sales to minors. “If we are to protect our children from the harms of tobacco, Congress must now enact the provisions of the FDA rule,” Clinton said in a statement issued while he was traveling in India. But Mark Smith, spokesman for Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., welcomed the ruling. “Business and in dustry throughout the nation ought to breathe a sigh of relief. The highest court in the land has confirmed that a federal agency cannot on its own go beyond its limits of authority set by Congress,” he said. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, writ ing for the court in the case that began in Greensboro, N.C., said, “By no means do we question the seriousness of the problem that the FDA has sought to ad dress.” She said, “The agency has amply demonstrated that tobacco use, particu larly among children and adolescents, poses perhaps the single most significant threat to public health in the United States.” However, she said, “We believe that Congress has clearly precluded the FDA from asserting jurisdiction to regulate to bacco products.” The ruling was a victory for an in dustry that has been under increasing pres sure for selling a product the American Cancer Society calls the leading cause of cancer. Cancer society head John R Sef frin said he was disappointed by the rul ing. The Justice Department also has a lawsuit pending against the industry, which has agreed to pay the states $246 billion for the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses. Cigarette billboards around the country were taken down last year as part of that agreement. O’Connor’s opinion was joined by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy and Clarence Thomas. Dissenting were Justices Stephen G. Breyer, John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Writ ing for the four, Breyer said the 1938 fed eral Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act’s “ba sic purpose — the protection of public health — supports the inclusion of cig arettes within its scope.” The ruling throws out the FDA’s rule requiring convenience stores and other places that sell cigarettes to require iden tification from anyone under age 27 seek ing to buy tobacco products. Other FDA rules put on hold earlier would have limited vendiiig-machine cig arette sales to adults-only locations, such as bars, and would have limited cigarette advertising. All 50 states already ban to bacco sales to anyone under 18, and the FDA adopted that rule nationwide. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said, “I ask the convenience stores, I ask our drug stores, I ask our gas stations, other places where kids can buy cigarettes to not pull back.... I uige this community to keep the cigarettes behind the counter, to keep that ID check sign up” while lawmakers push for federal legislation allowing FDA regulation of tobacco. ‘We believe that Congress has clearly precluded the FDA from asserting jurisdiction to regulate tobacco products.’ Justice Sandra Day O’Connor writing for the majority Applications for Dance Marathon Executive Committee 2001 are available in the Office of Greek Life Er Student Government Due Friday; March 2H by 5PM Be a part of USC's tradition of "Shooting for the Stars... Dancing for the Dreams... Giving Hope to the Kids!" •jjj: Shooting for the stars tjjt- Dancing for the Dneans ;jjtj giving Hope to the Kids iyr If you have any questions, call 777-5780 -i-: News Analysis Gore dodges 'Hubert Humphrey Syndrome' Most ana lysts say China is bluffing when it threatens wai over Taiwan’s recent election of a pro-inde pendence can didate. A1 Gore better pray they’re right. Unce again, iaiwan s elections have fallen on the same year as U.S. elections. Once again, China is sending ominous signals to the citizens of Taiwan. Once again, those citizens denied the mainland. But this time, the stakes are much, much higher. China has now said any talks with the island it considers a renegade province must take place with only one goal in mind: re-unification. While that is noth ing new, scolding editorials in China’s state-run newspapers are beginning to hint at the possibility of nuclear war if the United States gets involved in the tension between the two distinct parts of “One China.” The problem for Gore comes from the far edges of the hypothetical: What if? What if China goes to war with Tai wan? What if the United States gets in volved? For the vice president, it’s a quandary without a winning scenario; a lose-lose setup if ever there was one. If the Clinton administration goes to war, it will seem like Vietnam 0. Amer icans will be fighting for the indepen dence of a small Asian political entity (really, a nation) trying to fend off a Com munist nation’s attack. Gore will have a months-long nightmare of body bags com ing home from Asia. It can be called the Hubert Humphrey Syndrome. Humphrey was Lyndon John son’s vice president, who lost largely be cause of his unequivocal support of the Vietnam Whr and the way the Johnson Administration was running it. Loyal, yes; smart, no. It didn’t matter that Richard Nixon was far from a dove. The Johnson Ad ministration was responsible for the war, in Americans’ eyes, and it hurt Humphrey. If the administration chooses not to act. Gore’s situation gets worse. There will be cries of cowardice, and Gore will have to choose between distancing him self from the administration (and look ing like a hawkish traitor) or defending the administration and being labeled as “weak” and “soft” by the Bush camp. Again, most analysts agree that Chinese action is unlikely now (though it could occur 3-5 years in the future, meaning even larger troubles for who ever gets elected this go-round). China’s military, they stress, is not yet strong enough to mount an invasion of Taiwan; it’s certainly nothing to cqmpare to the U.S. Army, though China has about 10 times the U.S. population. That’s probably the reason for the nuke gambit. China knows that’s its on ly credible threat, and one that actually scares people in America, because bombs might actually be falling here at home. But it also shows the perils of elec tion-year politics for the incumbent and is a lesson about foreign policy’s im portance in U.S. elections. By and large, Americans don’t care about what’s going on overseas. Until “your boys” start coming home dead. I JL tJ Brandon Larrabee is a sophomore journalism major and writes about Campaign 2000 each Wednesday. He can be reached at laughin98@hot mail.com Propecia I (finasteride) 1 • . © 1 Ask your doctor about this pill | from Merck. For more information, call | 1-888-MERCK-74. © 2 1 © www.propecia.com : March 23 • il am. - 3 pi).: : Carolina Coliseum : • AIMCO • Alabama Department of Transportation • Aldi Inc. • Alltel • American Express Financial Advisors • APAC Customer Services, Inc. m • Around Campus, Inc. • Autism Society of North Carolina • Auto Owners Insurance Company • Bed Bath & Beyond • Bell & Howell Mail & Messaging Technology • Bell Atlantic Mobile • BellSouth • Ben Arnold- Sunbelt Beverage Company • Bestfoods Baking Company • Blockbuster Inc. • Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina • Buckeye International • Cameron & Barkley Company • Camp Barstow, Boy Scouts of America • Carolina First • Carolina Low Country Girl Scouts/ Camp Low Country • Carolina Phone to . 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Penney • Kmart Corporation • Lamson & Sessions • Lexington County Recreation & Aging Commission • Lexington Medical Center Extended Care • Liberty Mutual Insurance Group • LIS Warehouse Systems • Medical University of South Carolina • Metokote Corporation • Midlands Technical College Upward Bound Program • Momentum Logistics, Inc. • Morgan Stanley Dean Witter • Naval Career Management Site • Navy Officer Programs •NCR • New Hope Treatment Centers • Northwestern Mutual • OLDE Discount Corporation • Paramount's Carowinds • Peace Corps • Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company • Pro Staff Accounting Professionals • Professional Service Industries, Inc. • RaceTrac Petroleum, Inc. • Randstad • Regions Bank • RentWay, Inc. • Sands Resorts • SC Air National Guard • SC Budget & Control Board • SC Department of Corrections • SC Department of Revenue • SC Department of Transportation • SC Employment Security Commission • SC Probation, Parole and Pardon Services • SC State Career Center •SCANA • Sears, Roebuck and Co. • Sherwin Williams Co • SMI Steel • Southeastern Freight Lines • Southport Carriers • Springs Industries • Staples, Inc. • State Farm Insurance • Stratix Corporation • SYNNEX Information Technologies • Tar Heel Capital- Wendy's • Target • TEK Systems • The Vanguard Group • Toys "R" Us • Tuomey Healthcare System • U.S. Border Patrol • U.S. Census Bureau • U.S. Dept, of Agriculture, Plant Protection, & Quarantine Veterinary Services • Underwriters Laboratories Inc. • United Parcel Service • University Directories • US Air Force • US Army Health Care Recruiting • US Filter • USC Employment Office • USC, School of Medicine • Wachovia Bank • Waffle House • Wallace • Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. • Westinghouse Savannah River Company • YMCA Camp Winona CAREER^JclNTfR 6th Floor, Close (BA) Building M-F 8:30-5 • 777-7280 *www.sc.edu/career