ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 10, 1997 TAG: 9702100076
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DANVILLE
SOURCE: Associated Press
Lt. Gov. Don Beyer is giving a cool reception to the idea of allowing state alcohol agents to enforce laws forbidding minors' purchase of tobacco.
``There are only 110 ABC agents doing underage alcohol enforcement for the whole state,'' the likely Democratic nominee for governor told the Danville Register & Bee. ``If we want ABC agents to do the enforcement, they will need significant resources and they will need a mandate.''
The proposal to expand the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board's responsibilities is the centerpiece of a plan by Attorney General Jim Gilmore, Beyer's likely Republican opponent in the gubernatorial race.
Beyer said he believes President Clinton's proposal to regulate nicotine as a drug is a better solution to combat teen smoking.
He said he supports regulation by the Food and Drug Administration even though it could be a political liability in tobacco-rich southern Virginia, where feelings run deep that the FDA should be kept off the farm.
``Leadership is about trying to take strong, clear stands,'' Beyer said. ``I will continue on the issue of children and tobacco to look for the ways we can best protect kids. And I think I do that with everybody on my side - tobacco farmers, Philip Morris and the warehouse owners. We may differ a little in terms of the best mechanism, but at least everyone says that that's a common goal.''
Supporting FDA regulation also puts Beyer at odds with his probable Democratic running mate, retired 5th District Rep. L.F. Payne, a longtime tobacco supporter.
Beyer said he would not have entered the thorny FDA regulatory fray had it not been for Gilmore's decision to embroil Virginia taxpayers in a lawsuit over the issue.
Gilmore filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting a tobacco industry lawsuit trying to block federal restrictions on cigarette advertising. The case goes to court today in Greensboro, N.C.
Gilmore has said he believes Beyer and President Clinton want the crop ``regulated out of existence.'' He argues that the proposed federal regulation would hurt Virginia's economy.
Beyer said he doesn't understand how it would hurt the industry. ``Those same farmers who say, `I don't think children should smoke' must also sincerely acknowledge that the market for their tobacco, then, is not children and that stopping children from smoking therefore cannot affect how much they sell or the prices.''
In an August poll, 55 percent of Virginians said the government should regulate nicotine as a drug.
LENGTH: Medium: 54 linesby CNB