Big Tobacco and the pharmaceutical industry shook hands over freedom's corpse as the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impose FDA regulation over tobacco.

While the remarks from rabid anti-smoking Rep. Waxman would lead the ignorant to believe that his bill to regulate tobacco is opposed by the nefarious cigarette industry, the opposite is actually the case.  Tobacco giant Philip Morris is firmly on board the scheme to turn tobacco regulation over to the Food and Drug Administration.  PM believes that FDA regulation will be so onerous that only it will be able to survive.  As the other cigarette manufacturers die under the weight of the rules and regulations the FDA will impose, Philip Morris will become a monopoly, essentially cornering the market courtesy of the federal government and the tobacco control industry.

The pharmaceutical industry's support for FDA regulation is based on its long-term strategy of eliminating tobacco products completely thereby becoming the single source for nicotine.  Nicotine, so go the anti-smoking talking points, is evil only if consumed via tobacco.  If consumed in a gum, patch or inhaler, nicotine is a miracle drug.  Big Drugs is betting that the FDA's rules will gradually render cigarettes unsmokeable or de facto illegal.

The wants and desires of the smokers, of course, are irrelevant.  They, along with the principles that once made this country great, are expendable.  Their only function is to exist as cash cows to be milked by huge corporations and bloated governments.

The White House has signaled that President Bush will veto the legislation if it is approved by the Senate.

Not even one death in the world can be scientifically demonstrated to be caused by smoking, while smoking's therapeutic effects are well known. For that reason - and for that reason only - Big Pharma wants the monopoly of the nicotine market.