RT-D keeps you informed on tobacco issues

Big changes are coming to the tobacco industry, and we've ramped up our coverage in the

Richmond Times-Dispatch to keep you informed.

Tobacco has long been a focus of our coverage -- the business has been a key component of Virginia's economy since soon after its founding at Jamestown. Now more than ever, Richmond is at the heart of the industry.

• We are home to the nation's No. 1 cigarette-maker, Philip Morris USA, and its parent company, Altria Group Inc. Philip Morris operates one of the largest cigarette plants in the world in South Richmond. Altogether, Altria employs more than 5,000 in the Richmond area.

• Myriad other tobacco-related businesses big and small populate the region, from venerable tobacco broker Universal Corp. to more recent arrival Swedish Match North America.

• The health consequences of smoking continue to be widely debated, with long-sought legislation to ban smoking in restaurants finally making it through the General Assembly this year.

• Flue-cured tobacco, until recently Virginia's top cash crop, continues to be grown across Southside Virginia, and burley is grown in Southwest Virginia.

• Tiny Star Scientific Inc. in Petersburg has been locked in a lengthy legal battle over patents with North Carolina-based RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co., the No.2 cigarette-maker.

• And while Philip Morris International is based in New York after Altria spun off its international cigarette operations last year, the company is widely held in local portfolios and is of intense interest.

So what is different now?

On June 22, President Barack Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which places the manufacturing and marketing of cigarettes and other tobacco products under the regulatory authority of the Food and Drug Administration.

That will dramatically change the way the tobacco business is conducted.

Two

Times-Dispatch reporters pay close attention to how the regulation of tobacco is implemented and the effect of those changes -- not only on a key industry for the Richmond-area economy but on the health of millions across the country.

John Reid Blackwell, who has been The T-D's lead tobacco reporter for nearly 10 years, described in an article last week how tobacco will be a learning experience for the FDA, an agency also responsible for keeping the nation's food supply and medications safe.

He wrote: "The tobacco center will have a unique role for the FDA -- regulating a product that, when used as intended, causes disease and death for more than 400,000 of its consumers in the U.S. each year."

Altria, unlike many of its competitors, has long supported regulation that recognizes the harm caused by cigarettes and provides a framework for the development of tobacco products that are less harmful. Critics say the tobacco giant embraced regulation as a way to lock in its dominant share of the U.S. market.

The inch-thick tobacco-regulation legislation has plenty of specificity. The FDA must establish a Center for Tobacco Products within 90 days, and a ban on artificial flavors in cigarettes other than menthol takes effect in September. The bill requires warning labels on cigarette packs covering at least half of the front panel, with warnings such as "Cigarettes are addictive" and "Smoking can kill you" in 17-point type, about three-eighths of an inch.

But the legislation also leaves open many questions about how FDA oversight will proceed, and it establishes a timeline for the implementation of key regulatory elements that favor the tobacco industry.

David Ress, a

Times-Dispatch investigative reporter who has covered tobacco issues for years, reported this month that those big warning labels -- a key provision sought by anti-smoking lobbyists -- won't begin appearing on cigarette packs for about three years.

The regulation of tobacco promises to transform the tobacco industry, with important ramifications for many companies in the Richmond area, thousands of their employees and retirees, and the health of millions of Americans.

The Times-Dispatch closely follows all sides of this multifaceted story. We welcome your comments and suggestions.

John Hoke is business news editor. Contact him at (804) 649-6344 or .

Contact John Reid Blackwell at (804) 775-8123 or .

Contact David Ress at (804) 649-6051 or .