State lawmakers and advocates on both sides seized on the investigation as the latest front in the abortion wars.

And anti-smoking advocates have seized upon it as more evidence of the need for international controls on the marketing of tobacco products.

But in doing so, they acknowledged, they created a void that allowed the most strident anti-smoking advocates to seize the political debate.

It was the first major health care bill to come before Congress in years, and advocates of health programs seized on it.

But the very nature of the report was contrary to the Government's usual inclination against acknowledging any merit at all in marijuana use, and advocates on both sides of the issue seized on it.

Mr. Bush has denied that the N.R.A. would have undue influence, but gun-control advocates and Mr. Gore seized on the remark to accuse the Texas governor of being beholden to the powerful group.

While it was unclear whether suicide was a possible motive, advocates for victims of sexual abuse by priests seized on the incident as a reminder of the despair that can consume such victims.

Antivaccine advocates immediately seized upon the thimerosal theory, and Halsey became something of an unwilling hero to the vaccine-safety advocates with whom he had so often sparred.

But advocates of new standards seized on yesterday's report to assert that it underlines the need for tougher workplace standards.

Some advocates have seized on the notion of a blue-collar slump with the aim of persuading policymakers to give more aid to the lower strata of city workers.