bush elimates teh old ligation process on tobacco
Eglund, Staff Writer, March 19, 2001 (Toby, The Gully) http://www.thegully.com/essays/US/politics_2001/010319tobacco_bush.html
A group of quixotic, anti-tobacco lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill in the U.S. House of Representatives last week that would classify nicotine as a drug and tobacco products as drug delivery devices, and finally give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the unquestioned authority to regulate them. Most importantly, the legislation would allow the FDA to restrict marketing, especially to youths. The legislation, which stalled last year under Clinton, is sure to fail now under George W. Bush, who has promised to abolish the "old system of mandate, regulate, and litigate."

 
republicans support tobacco education programs but not regulations
Klein, Media News General Service, Sunday, 8/6/01 (Gil, Richmon Times-Dispatch) http://www.tobaccofreedom.org/issues/specials/bush.html
Bush said he would support the federal tobacco price-support program "because it does not cost the taxpayers any money.'' He said that he is a free trader and that farm exports in general would help all farmers.On the question of smoking, he said states need to provide ample warning about the risks."I don't think we should raise the cigarette taxes at the federal level," he said. "I believe states ought to do a better job of informing children of the hazards of smoking. But we have recognized that there are some adults, once properly warned, who choose to smoke."

 
Republicans support anti-smoking programs for children but have politicla inscentive to avoid regulations
Republican National Committe, 2000, (Republican Platform) http://216.239.37.100/search?q=cache:Yx7klQMCn7QC:www.perimeter.org/html/civic_concerns/2000RepublicPlatform.pdf+%22republicans+support%22,+%22voluntary+programs%22,+tobacco&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
Children's Health.The huge strides we have already made in improving children's health must be balanced against sobering statistics. Asthma attects nearly five million children and teh incidence is dramatically increasing . Childhood obesity has jumped 100 percent in the lsat 15 years and can be a forerunner of the most serious illnesses later in life. Diabetes is now the second most common chronic disease in childre. Youth drug abuse has more than doubled in teh past eight years. Smoking rates for youth have risen alarmingly. Every year, 2,500 babies are born with fetal alcohol syndrome. So much of the suffering cuased by childhood diseases can be prevented - by increasing immunization rates; by increasing resources for biomedical research, not by crippling pharmaceutical progress; by sensible strategies agaisnt teen smoking rather than teh folly of prohibition; by a real war on drugs in place of the white flag policies of recent years. Our commitment is to address teh emotional, behavoiral, and mental illnessses affecting children. With parental involvement as teh critical component, we cna help our youth make health and teh right choice in avoding risk behaviors involving alcohol, drugs, premarital sex, tobacco, and violence

 
Republicans opposed to tobacco regulation
Ostrow, Guest Columnist, 2002 (Daniel, Daily Princetonian) http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/Content/2000/10/24/edits/304.html
First, we have the Republican stance on tobacco. For some odd reason, Republicans actually support the tobacco industry. Sure cigarettes cause lung cancer (finally an accepted fact), but that doesn't seem to bother the Republicans. Crystal clear (as opposed to fuzzy) statistics have established that lung cancer is the leading type of cancer and that cancer is the second leading cause of death among all Americans. But Republicans are still asking, "Why exactly are they harmful again?" The party continues to question why the FDA should regulate nicotine. Maybe because it kills far more Americans each year than any other dangerous substance.

But when Sen. John McCain proposed a bill that would allow the FDA to regulate nicotine as a drug, Congress went along with the Republican Party and killed it. That same year, Congress didn't approve a deal restricting tobacco industry advertising, even though it found that those companies often marketed cigarettes to minors. How can they not realize that inhaling smoke is bad for you? Haven't we all heard on the evening news, "Firefighter hospitalized for smoke inhalation?"