1.   And by then, the courts may have reaffirmed the right of the government to regulate nicotine, diminishing some of the motivation for pushing the agreement through.

2.   And it gives the Food and Drug Administration new powers to regulate nicotine as a drug and cigarettes as drug delivery devices.

3.   Any day now, President Clinton, undoubtedly with Kessler by his side, will announce that the FDA will begin regulating nicotine as a drug.

4.   A North Carolina federal judge in April granted the FDA authority to regulate nicotine.

5.   But Clinton should not give up on the idea of comprehensive legislation that strongly regulates nicotine and significantly curbs tobacco consumption.

6.   But Congress can still raise cigarette taxes and regulate nicotine as a drug.

7.   But now the debate has also erupted in Washington, where Congress is considering federal legislation that will resolve many tobacco lawsuits and allow the government to regulate nicotine.

8.   Changing the rules for the tobacco industry would essentially prevent the government from ever regulating nicotine, health advocates said.

9.   Clinton has proposed a series of steps that depend on the asserted power of the Food and Drug Administration to regulate nicotine as if it were a drug.

10.   Clinton has taken a hard line against tobacco use by minors, ordering the FDA last August to regulate nicotine as a drug.