http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2009/06/22/daily16.html?ana=from_rss said:

President Barack Obama signed into law Monday legislation that grants the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco products. The law, which comes 45 years after the FDA linked tobacco use to heart and respiratory disease, will restrict tobacco advertising, ban candy and fruit-flavored cigarettes, and require large, graphic health warnings to cover the top half of all cigarette packages.

The bill also prohibits cigarette companies from marketing their products as “light,” “low-tar” and “mild.”

However, the bill does not ban menthol-flavored cigarettes. One of America’s leading menthol producers, the Altria Group, has expressed its support of the bill. The Altria Group, based in Henrico, Va., is the parent company of Philip Morris USA and its Marlboro Menthols are the country’s second-leading menthol brand after Lorillard Tobacco Co.’s Newport brand. Lorillard issued an earlier statement saying it “opposes legislation that would [allow] the FDA to regulate the tobacco industry.”

Click to expand...