NANNY-STATE UPDATE!by Eric Dondero
Oh, the irony is so sweet. Our past 6 Presidents were all non-smokers. Along comes our first smoker since Nixon, and he bans "flavored cigarettes."
From PipesMagazine.com:
The ban is one of the first visible effects of a new law signed by President Barack Obama in June that gives the Food and Drug Administration wide-ranging authority to regulate tobacco.Ironically, it's the heart of Obama's constituency - college kids - who are screaming the loudest over the ban. Flavored cigarettes were most popular among the college set.
Part of the new "Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act" has a ban on flavored cigarettes which went into effect September 22nd. This part of the law has provisions that include a ban on the use of flavors in tobacco, other than menthol. This will include clove cigarettes, a product popular in the US for decades.
From The DePauw (Indiana Univ.), Rachel Cheeseman, "Flavored Cigarette Ban, so Ridiculous," Sept. 25:
I hate to burst Obama's and the FDA commissioner's bubble, but flavors are not the addictive substance in cigarettes, and the flavors are not what smokers are looking for when they light up. What they are looking for is, in fact, nicotine. Flavored cigarettes weren't so good that people who never would have smoked otherwise pick up a Camel Spice and have an epiphany that smoking is actually both tasty and enjoyable. Flavored cigarettes offered variety for people who already smoked. They did not, and could not, create smokers.The Rocky Mountain College News editorial board commented:
What's next if we keep protecting 'the children?' We already see a tax on soda proposed in Congress. We assume Lucky Charms and fast food are next on the chopping block. Since these products can, perhaps, lead children into unhealthy lifestyles, we better ban them just to be safe, right?"Banning cloves is the ultimate in uncool. Ranks right up there with sending the Feds in to bash up a freshmen kegger, or outlawing wet t-shirt nights in Daytona or Panama City Beach.
If Obama loses the cool, particularly with the college crowd, what does he have left?
Editor's Note - Hat tip to LR Reader for alerting us to this development.
