ERLC Urging Passage of Tobacco Legislation
The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention is pushing for the U.S. Senate to pass legislation to authorize the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco as a drug. Companion legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives in July. Here's the story from Baptist Press:
WASHINGTON (BP)--Stressing concern for the health of American families, the head of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission Sept. 8 appealed to the U.S. Senate to pass key tobacco legislation.
"This year approximately 400,000 Americans will die from tobacco-related diseases," said ERLC Richard Land in a letter to six senators. "Studies show that children are three times more likely than adults to be influenced by tobacco marketing and children in America are becoming addicted to tobacco at the alarming rate of 1,000 per day."
The ERLC and members of Faith United Against Tobacco, a coalition of religious groups that promotes increased government regulation of tobacco products, believe passage of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act will prevent thousands of Americans from succumbing to illness and death caused by tobacco addiction.
The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a companion bill July 30 to authorize the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the production, marketing and sale of tobacco products, Land said. He hopes the Senate will pass the legislation by a strong majority.
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