As promised, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), along with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), last week introduced legislation that would dramatically improve the regulation of tobacco products. Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Tom Davis (R-VA) introduced a companion bill in the House. Among other provisions the legislation would:

• Place tobacco regulation under the purview of the FDA;
• Crack down on tobacco advertising targeted at youths;
• Increase the size of warning labels;
• Prohibit the use of the terms "light," "low," and "mild;" and
• Prohibit the sale of "cigarettes characterized by strawberry, cinnamon, grape, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, vanilla, mint and other flavors" (presumably menthols).

Currently, tobacco is one of the few industries that is largely unregulated. A recent Harvard study found tobacco levels in cigarettes are steadily rising, thus proving America needs government regulators to step in. The bills are a common sense approach to solving some serious problems, and already enjoy bipartisan support. This legislation should quickly move through Congress and immediately be signed by President Bush.