President Bush has wisely dropped his opposition to the housing bailout bill, but apparently not another piece of worthy legislation: a bill that would empower the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco. If Congress passes the legislation soon, as expected, it may not survive a veto.

Nicotine, the ingredient in cigarettes that keeps smokers coming back for more, is a heavily addictive drug by all accounts. Cigarette makers can adjust its content in cigarettes, and have done so in the wrong direction — upward — over the years to make their product even more addictive. This is reason enough for the government agency that regulates drugs and the companies that make them, to regulate cigarettes.

The administration argues, weakly, that doing so would overburden the FDA. If that’s the case, then give the watchdog agency more money and let it do more hiring. The notion that the health of tens of millions of Americans is somehow not worth such an expense is absurd and, frankly, insulting.

The administration also cites a flaw in the bill that would ban flavored cigarettes, but not menthol. Cigarette makers were also recently found to be manipulating the menthol content of their products, using less on brands marketed to young smokers and more on those marketed to adults. With menthol brands the overwhelming choice of African-American smokers, the bill’s exemption has been decried as racist. President Bush’s health secretary cited this issue as a reason for Congress to reject the bill, and while it would be better for legislators to amend the bill and include menthol in the ban, the FDA could accomplish the same thing were it given regulatory power over the industry.

It should be, and Congress should override Bush’s expected veto — unless he changes his mind.