Senate may vote today on tobacco legislation

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate could vote as early as today on legislation that for the first time would give the FDA powers to regulate the sale, manufacturing and marketing of tobacco products.
    The House has passed a similar bill. President Barack Obama, who is struggling with his own smoking habit, supports it.
    The Senate cleared the way for passage when it defeated, 60-36, an alternative offered by North Carolina’s two senators. The alternative would have created a new agency, instead of the FDA, to regulate tobacco and would have been more open to development of new, less harmful tobacco products.