New Senate legislation comes down on tobacco industry

WASHINGTON Tobacco companies face a new era of challenges under a law passed by the Senate Thursday.

The Senate voted 79 to 17 to pass a bill allowing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products. The House passed a similar bill in April, but the Senate bill will go back to the House before going to the president, who has said he will sign it.

The law would ban flavored cigarettes, except for those with menthol, bans advertising tobacco products as less harmful than others, such as “light” cigarettes, and requires tobacco companies to disclose all the ingredients in their products to the Department of Health and Human Services.