The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has released a sweeping series of recommendations about tobacco and smoking, calling for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate tobacco products, higher cigarette taxes, and bans on smoking in public.

Reuters reported May 24 that the IOM expert panel led by University of Virginia law professor Richard Bonnie said the FDA should be given broad powers to regulate tobacco contents, marketing, packaging and distribution. The panel said the federal excise tax on tobacco should be increased, and that states should raise and equalize their taxes to prevent smuggling between states. Internet tobacco sales should be prohibited, the report said.

Moreover, the IOM panel recommended that tobacco advertising be limited to text-only, black-and-white formats, and that terms like "mild," "light," and "low-tar" should be banned.

"These dangerous products are essentially unregulated," said Bonnie. "If tobacco cigarettes were now being introduced into the marketplace for the first time, there is no doubt that they would be banned under any one of several consumer protection statutes."

The report, Ending the Tobacco Problem: A Blueprint for the Nation, was produced at the request of the American Legacy Foundation, an antismoking charity created under the terms of the nationwide tobacco settlement.

"It's disgraceful that year after year, Congress has bowed to the tobacco lobby and refused to act," said Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), lead sponsor of an FDA tobacco regulation bill now before Congress. "Hopefully, the IOM's powerful call to action will be the irresistible force that finally compels the Senate and House to act."