US House of representative on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted for a bill that would give the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate cigarettes and other tobacco products.

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, voted 326-102, would allow the FDA to reduce nicotine levels, require larger, more informative health warnings on cigarette packs, ban flavored cigarettes and limit advertisements such as those claiming that one product is safer than others.

Tobacco is a silent killer and a threat to millions of smokers and non-smokers worldwide. Smoking appears to be the biggest cause of preventable deaths in the US, killing more than 400,000 people annually. About 90 percent of cigarette customers become addicted on nicotine before age 19, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Ironic is the fact that most smokers become addicted before they’re legally old enough to buy a pack.

Secondhand smoke can cause serious health problems, such as cancer, respiratory infections and asthma, and kills almost 40,000 people every year. According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released earlier this month, about half of the nonsmoking US population still has to inhale cigarettes smoke. The bad news is that many people usually underestimate the gravity of being exposed to secondhand smoke. This type of smoke, carrying numerous dangerous chemicals, is responsible for the increase by at least 20 percent of lung cancer risk and for that of heart disease by about 25 percent.

"This … has the potential to save more lives than any other public health legislation in the past 50 years," said John Seffrin, head of the American Cancer Society who applauded the passage of the measure along with the American Lung Association.

The measure was the more necessary as many children are exposed to cigarette smoke leading to serious disease later in adulthood.

"While it may be true that a lot of adults know what they're doing when they smoke and they know of its impacts, what we've really got to address are the kids," said Rep. Frank Pallone (D., N.J.).

The bill has the support of major health groups, many Democrats, and the nation’s largest cigarette maker, Philip Morris USA, a unit of Altria Group Inc., but it could still face a presidential veto, no matter the number of people, organizations, or companies supporting it. However, the House’s 326-102 vote shows it could get the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. The issue was addressed by Health and Human Services Sec. Michael Leavitt last week in a letter send to Joe L. Barton of Texas, one of the highest-ranking Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He also said that adding tobacco to FDA’s regulatory responsibilities could also leave the public with the misperception that tobacco products are safe, or at least safer, with the FDA regulating them.

Now the measure needs the approval of the Senate, which had already voted for such measure earlier in April (32-12).

A tobacco regulation was first proposed by Republican Sen. John McCain in 1997, one year after the FDA asserted that it had authority over tobacco products. However, four years later, the Supreme Court rejected the agency’s initiative.