…a cigarette or any of its component parts (including the tobacco, filter, or paper) shall not contain, as a constituent (including a smoke constituent) or additive, an artificial or natural flavor (other than tobacco or menthol) or an herb or spice, including strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry, or coffee, that is a characterizing flavor of the tobacco product or tobacco smoke.
Menthol cigarettes make up about 28% of the industry's profits, according to this New York Times article from last summer about the same legislation. Some menthol brands actually contain the highest amounts of nicotine of any cigarettes, making them potentially more addictive. And sadly, menthols have been deliberately marketed to African Americans for decades, in an attempt to create a thriving market for a specific group. It worked—75% of menthol cigarettes in the U.S. are smoked by African Americans.
So why wasn't menthol included on the banned additives list? Why was a subset of Americans neglected in this wide-reaching smackdown on tobacco products? Aside from the fact that banning menthols would cut between a quarter to a third of the profit out of the industry and waste decades of niche marketing, the Act that gave the FDA this power was co-authored by ginormous tobacco company Philip Morris (now called Altria), which had a clear incentive to keep menthols on the market and to shut out the flavored cigarettes that smaller competitors have been introducing. (Sort of like how the big toy companies pushed through the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act—CPSIA—last year that put large financial burdens on small toy companies.)
As Paul Smalera at Slate's "The Big Money" points out, this Philip Morris piece of legislative maneuvering puts the FDA in a bad place:
In other words, the United States will have two choices in the above scenario, both hairy: protect the FDA's independence by admitting it banned cloves but not menthols only to protect Philip Morris' [Altria's] market share or let the FDA manufacture an explanation, contrary to recent studies, by which menthol cigarettes, which are used to lure children to smoke, are just as safe as unflavored cigarettes.
"Up in smoke: FDA bans flavored cigarettes" [Consumer Reports]
RELATED
"Black Lawmakers Seek Restrictions on Menthol Cigarettes " [New York Times]
"Cool, Refreshing Legislation for Philip Morris" [The Big Money]
(Photo: fishercott911)
Let's ALL report MENTHOL cigarettes and maybe they'll get the hint.
]]>And then if they tried to re-introduce smoking in bars you'd probably whine about that, just like people would probably whine like crazy now if they tried to re-introduce it in restaurants or on planes.
]]>"…a cigarette or any of its component parts (including the tobacco, filter, or paper) shall not contain, as a constituent (including a smoke constituent) or additive, an artificial or natural flavor (other than tobacco or menthol) or an herb or spice, including strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry, or coffee, that is a characterizing flavor of the tobacco product or tobacco smoke"
]]>These were originally intended for theater. They looked like a box of Marlboro Reds (like on TV, where they're called Morleys?) I had to drive 2.5 hours to find a shop that sold them.
It occurs to me that this law doesn't ban the possession or import, just sales in the US, yes? I could see some of my friends in Mexico having a lucrative online business. (I've had cigarettes in Mexico that should be illegal! - Again, not that kind!)
]]>*The more you know*
]]>Already EBAY and AMAZON have pulled down all listings for Electronic Cigarettes, their individual parts, the refill juice, and pretty much everything else E-CIG related. Oh, and PAYPAL has also been warned to stop "supporting" sales of E-Cigs (by facilitating payments for them), and the FDA has blocked MANY shipments of E-Cigs coming into the country from China (so supplies & parts are getting scarce).
I had JUST starting vaping a few weeks ago, too, to try and kick my pack-a-day habit. Now I'm afraid I won't be able to get parts & refills for much longer. :(
]]>Growing TOBACCO for your own personal use is perfectly legal in the USA. You just can't SELL it. More and more people in the US *are* starting to grow their own tobacco, in fact.
Now, if it gets TOO popular, you can bet they WILL make it illegal. :P But we're not to that point yet. :)
]]>this being ocoee, it's not like there were more than half a dozen cops and they are only accountable to themselves
]]>Hipsters smoke all-natural American Spirits, which heal the lungs as you smoke them!
]]>I imagine that does vary by state. Easy to be law abiding here and pay my $12 for the 4 cartons I ordered, but I imagine in NY/NJ this could be an expensive proposition unless you want to skirt the law (which of course I don't suggest).
Quite annoying.
]]>I foresee goths rolling their own, while high school hoods still smoke their Marlboro Reds In A Box.
]]>Also, as I mentioned, the ban does not cover importation or possession; just domestic sales. Cloves are cheaper online - I just got a few cartons in before the ban from a seller in Indonesia in five days; another few are en-route. So, ex-goths (or people who used to hang around goths, like me) don't despair! The Internet is the answer.
]]>So what now? I just imported a buttload from Indonesia, and I'll probably smoke them *more* now. (and it was cheaper!). Good move, FDA!
This whole bill is based on faulty logic; the simple assumption that "kids like candy; so they must like candy flavored cigarettes!". Right, nevermind the fact that djarum blacks were $7.50 a pack here in northern VA -- the kids much prefer the two-fifty packs of Jack's from wawa. (just like in my youth in Denver when the majority of poor underage smokers went for the off brand "GPC", or good p*uckin' cigarettes as we told ourselves.)
When someone got their hands on a pack of Djarum or Sampoerna, it was a rare and revered experience - but the "starter" cigs were definitely the gas station generics.
BTW, Djarum has suspended sales of the clove cigars too now - as the FDA published a clarification on 9/22 that was vague at best. Kretek intl is now suing he FDA to make an actual ruling on their cigar product.
Oh, and btw, to the fellow that thinks he's independent but actually is falling for big tobacco marketing hook line and sinker by thinking he's not a "pussy" because he smokes marlboro reds - you do know that primary to your manly idol the Marlboro man, Marlboro's slogan is "mild as May". Cloves are actually quite a bit harsher and contain more nicotine plus eugenol. Oh well. It takes a tender man to smoke a mild Malboro Red. Keep f'ing that chicken.
]]>Does this mean there is a ban on flavored hookah tobacco? If so, Ill be ordering all my products from Dubai... oh wait, I already do.
]]>AN 2003(12)New Restrictions on Selling Cigarettes to Be
Shipped or Transported to Persons in ConnecticutPurpose: This Announcement alerts persons engaged in the business of selling cigarettes that recently enacted legislation prohibits those sellers from shipping or transporting cigarettes to any person in Connecticut other than a lawful recipient, as defined in this Announcement. This Announcement also requests that newspaper and other publishers and direct mail distributors cease to run advertisements offering cigarettes that consumers in Connecticut may order from the advertiser (by telephone, by mail or over the Internet) for shipment or transport to those consumers.
Effective Date: July 1, 2003.
Statutory Authority: 2003 Conn. Pub. Acts 271, §1.
New Restrictions: It is illegal for any person engaged in the business of selling cigarettes to ship or transport, or cause to be shipped or transported, any cigarettes to any person in Connecticut unless the person is a lawful recipient.
As used in this Announcement, a lawful recipient is a person who is:
*Licensed as a cigarette dealer by the Department of Revenue Services (DRS) or a person whose name appears on a list of licensed dealers published by DRS (See Names and Addresses to Be Published on DRS Internet Website below.);
*Licensed as a cigarette distributor by DRS or a person whose name appears on a list of licensed distributors published by DRS (See Names and Addresses to be Published on DRS Internet Website below.);
*Issued a permit to engage in business as an export warehouse proprietor by the Internal Revenue Service under 26 U.S.C. §5713;
*Operating a Customs bonded warehouse under §311 or 555 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. §1311 or 1555); or
*An officer, employee or agent of the U.S. Government, Connecticut State Government, or political subdivision of either, when the person is acting in his or her official capacity.
i'm having trouble with that last part...why exactly would an agent of the government need to import cigarettes within their "official capacity"?
]]>Although there may be an interesting case about whether or not an agency can ban the combination of two things that independent of each other are legal.
]]>First they came for the cloves and I did nothing...
I just think that if you let the nanny state get away with bans like this that only benefit one company, pretty soon they are going to come after the rest, because it's cutting into the profits.
God preserve us from the nanny state! Nothing's worse than someone making legislation "for your own good."
And, full disclosure - non smoker, here.
]]>Thanks for the giggle.
]]>Philip Morris brands include Maxwell House coffee, Cool Whip, Jell-O, Raisin Bran, Grape Nuts, Oreo, Ritz, Planters, Altoids, LifeSavers, and Toblerone.
Boycotts of megacorps are no simple feat. Hope you keep the full list of brands in your back pocket daily!
]]>@Coyote: Are you just assuming Obama smokes menthols because he's black? I've never seen his brand identified, but I guess I figured he was an American Spirit type of guy.
]]>@Chumas: Seconded. My boyfriend is quitting smoking right now and I suddenly find myself in an occasionally verbally abusive relationship and it's weird as fuck.
I am absconding with your "nicotine shitfit" phrase. It fits perfectly.
Also, congrats for quitting smoking!
]]>@secret_curse: @babyruthless: @billy: I believe secret curse was referring to the Reinheitsgebot (German Purity Law) of 1516 that dictated beer could only contain water, barley and hops.
It's since been repealed, but some brewers still adhere to the tradition.
]]>@dohtem: I truly don't know why, but not all smokers smell that bad. My home spun theory is that people who smoke in their house smell, and people who only smok outside don't.
I smoke when I started at my job. No one else in my office smoked, so I never really mentioned my own smoking. People were honestly surprised to find out I was a smoker when they would see me outside. I can only assume I didn't smell like a smoker, otherwise you think they would have guessed.
]]>If menthols are banned, Obama loses the black vote. It's a simple as that. Surprised nobody has had the guts to admit it yet.
]]>Guess what? The abstract I linked does a pretty good job of explaining the actual results of the study. Young people are more likely to smoke flavored cigarettes THAN OLDER ESTABLISHED SMOKERS... Older established smokers are not switching their brands/flavors to newer more advertised smokes? What a shocker! (I wonder what the results of a survey of only new smokers would find. Would a new smoker aged 25 be as likely as one who is 17 to smoke flavored cigarettes?)
Also, the study was compiled using two completely separate surveys -- one done on 17-25 years olds, and the other done on those 25 and older. Oh yeah, the study also suggests that the majority of those who smoked flavored cigarettes smoked them once or twice a month, in addition to their regular brand.
And lets look at those brands/flavors that were included in the study -- Two brands of exclusively Menthol flavors, and one brand that included one of four flavors that was menthol. So the study that's being used to support the ban that did not include menthol cigarettes, used surveys that concentrated on 12 total flavors -- of which 9 were menthol.
Curiously absent from the study? Clove cigarettes.
]]>@ktetch: Marketing isn't necessarily the cause of most smoking. For one thing, habitual smoking has existed for longer than modern marketing methods, so there's clearly some other draw. Smoking appears to strongly correlate with depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses. (This is one theory as to why the antidepressant buproprion, aka Zyban or Wellbutrin, helps people quit.)
I'd bet that marketing has an influence in getting people to smoke one brand over another brand, but not to start in the first place.
]]>@Kishi: Speaking as a former gothy chick, I agree. *sigh*
]]>@Chris Walters: I don't know the average age, but the vast majority of smokers in the US start before age 18 - on the order of 80-90%. Note that this does not include "social smokers", people who can somehow avoid becoming addicted to cigarettes.
]]>Beer is a type of malt beverage.
]]>@drizzt380: Sounds great, comrade.
Actually that sounds like a prisoner's day to me, and according to that episode of the Office they have it better than I do...
"Michael we don't even get outdoor time!"
]]>@gStein: lol, genius
]]>Kinda like when someone had a bad tequila experience and can not stand the site of it now.
]]>First, there are two types of second hand smoke. Mainstream and sidestream. Mainstream is the smoke that a smoker inhales and then exhales. I'm going to assume that some gunk got left in the smokers lungs or in the filter so it is less dangerous.
Sidestream however is the smoke that comes right off the end of the cigarette. Never passes through the filter and hasn't been through a persons lungs. So I'm going to assume it is more dangerous.
While my assumptions could be wrong, some studies have shown that sidestream MAY be worse than mainstream and first hand.
Now, we may be able to come to the conclusion that an equal amount of sidestream smoke is worse than an equal amount of firsthand smoke.
Now, we need that a study that shows person could in any way get even close to as much sidestream smoke as a smoker gets firsthand smoke if they aren't sitting in a room filled to the brim with smoke or sitting right next to a cigarette someone is holding trying to inhale as much as they can. I don't think they can prove such a thing.
On a 1 for 1 basis, Second hand could therefore be said to be more dangerous than first hand smoke. Buts that the same thing as saying potassium is more dangerous than water. Enough of either will probably kill you, but the potassium will kill you first if you take the same amount of each until you die. But you are way more likely to run into enough water to kill you versus enough potassium.
]]>@secret_curse: When I was at Sweetwater, they said that you are allowed to put herbs and spices in beer and it still be beer, at least in GA. Coriander is legit in your hefe. Their Sweetwater Blue, however is technically a malt beverage because it has blueberries in it, though.
]]>@Benguin - viking riding a manticore: People generally call them cloves rather than flavored cigarettes.
]]>@chapoec: Actually, most places beer can't have any flavors but barley, water, and hops. If anything else is put in the recipe it has to be called a malt beverage.
]]>@Shivver:
Great. There goes my idea for chocolate flavored cigarettes. I was going to call them "Coco Puffs"
]]>Could you link to that study? Never heard of that.
]]>@outlulz:
Actually, it's net cheaper for the health system to have smokers, because smokers die rather than have lingering chronic illness at an advanced age.
]]>@gStein: Thirded. I wonder if those new clove cigars will smell as good...I kind of doubt it.
]]>Smoking cloves was my favorite naughty thing to do when I was in high school. I also can't smell them without having flashbacks to my favorite hole-in-the-wall goth club, now defunct. Sigh.
]]>While the tar in tobacco is bad for you, the additives in cigarettes are what are truly lethal. They might not be as addictive, or last as long on the shelf, or be as cheap, or be truly healthy, but at least they will be a lot healthiER! I wonder how much of second hand smoke is dangerous just because of the additives. The filters were supposed to keep some of the tar from getting to your lungs, not to stop the carcinogens. That was a byproduct.
One can hope anyways.
No by the way, I do not smoke. Tried Djarum blacks a handful of times from my brother, but never picked up the habit. Too expensive. I am just glad that my dad and my brother are both trying to quit.
]]>They won't ban cigarettes because they make waaaaay too much money off of taxes for them.
This is why they are changing the laws so that Indian Reservation "Smoke Shops" have to start paying taxes on any cigarettes that are sold outside of the reservation.
This is why the FDA is making such a stink (and is working to ban) "E-Cigs" (Electronic Cigarettes) - because they don't make any taxes off them, and smokers can still get their nicotine "Fix".
They're not about to ban something that they literally make BILLIONS from in tax revenue.
]]>Though the hacking cough of some smokers could be a pretty good give-away of lung problems.
]]>Why again do we not have laws that prohibit people or corporations with financial interest from writing or assisting in writing legislation that may impact them again????
]]>This is why you need to be suspicious when big business backs reform measures. It is not because they are for reform, it is because the regulatory aparatus that is put in place will prevent competition from entering the market.
]]>@rockasocky: There's been heavy debates on hookah forums for months about this, and I'm hoping we're correct in assuming that shisha is safe from this. I don't think it applies to shisha since the tobacco is not something you could use in a cigarette.
]]>Nah, just an idiot willing to smoke something that both tastes and smells awful for the sake of being "cool," as opposed to those who choose to smoke something that tastes and smells good. Sheesh. I personally think smoking anything makes you repugnant, but I'd much rather be forced to breath their "fancy," "fruity" second-hand smoke than yours. (Nice not-so-subtle word substitution there, btw. You sound like one of those idiots who toss the f-word and g-word around as if they were an insult.)
In case it isn't clear from the above, I agree that banning flavored cigarettes is ridiculous. Either ban tobacco entirely or let the consumer continue to decide ways in which he or she will poison him or herself, and tax, tax, tax the hell out of it. Corporate-sponsored legislation is what we ought to ban.
]]>I used to LOVE to smoke. I'm a serial quitter, going strong now for several months. I work out, eat healthy, and am otherwise healthy. My go-to crutch during times of crisis is cigs.
Nothing compares to the psychological balm cigarettes apply when smoked. I know, they are sad, addictive, killers. Big Tobacco would get EVERYONE off its back if they put some dollars into inventing a "good" cigarette.
]]>Anything with high fructose corn syrup. Not only will this free up more corn crops for ethanol production, but there have been studies which show consumption of fructose over sucrose increases obesity and can lead to insulin resistance. So no cokes, no heinz ketchup, goodbye to some fruit drinks, no wonderbread(we should really make it at home anyway right?), lets shut down Kellogg and nabisco, and get rid of Robitussin.
Also, anything thats a snack. I mean, it feels good but it doesn't really support a healthy lifestyle.
What else can we get rid of....private vehicles. Switch everyone over to public transportation!!! Less pollution and everyone can still get to work. We'll just roll that into the taxes.
In fact, with all the foods out there that people could possibly be eating that they really shouldn't be eating, we'll just make the public food option mandatory. Meals ready to eat, to be picked up at your local grocer. Of course, everyone will be given a set amount of meals per person. Don't want anyone eating more than they should and getting fat right!!
And everyone spends way too much time sitting around doing things like watching TV, or going on the internet or reading books that have no true value beyond entertainment. Throw in some mandatory outside activity. At least to cut back on that. I mean, we don't want to invade peoples life decisions too much do we?
(note:all of this was obviously hyperbole)
]]>Actually, I'm pretty sure that even people in the 1600's could figure out that the big lumps of black goo in the lungs of dead smokers weren't supposed to be there.
]]>Except, they don't. Some studies have pointed at secondhand smoke being more harmful than firsthand smoke. Smoke hurts the people AROUND the smoker, possibly more than it hurts the smoker.
]]>If you've read about tax letters in your local paper, make sure you file a year-end tax declaration.
]]>Hello, my name is Ben and I'm being sarcastic. Nice to meet you.
]]>@thesadtomato: They were banned in Maryland a long time ago for reasons I can't recall. But IIRC it banned only the sale, you could still smoke them if you got them. And every surrounding state sold them...so it all pans out kinda like how fireworks laws work here.
]]>a far as i know it's been sucessfully prosecuted once, for a $50 fine.
]]>not addicted. i go through pack of clove cigarettes in 3 months. in fact i don't ever need them at all, but once in a while i enjoy them. i don't smoke around children, or others inside, so any crap you give me about 'second hand smoke' doesn't apply.
]]>guess i'll just have to take up that $2.5o a pack deal from indonesia. thanks FDA for saving me a bundle!
]]>@Posthaus:
Exactly. Khaki-pack FTW.
]]>Now if you try the same trick with tobacco, people are still going to smoke. They'll buy them from "importers"
who will charge what the market will bear, and you'll criminalize something that's been legal for centuries. You think crack wars are a problem? Wait until you see tobacco wars, coming to a street corner near you.
a version of this law was on the table in 2005/2006 and failed due to the trade with indonesia [where clove cigarettes are made] and the menthol thing
in 2005 philip morris quit importing sampoerna brand clove cigarettes [i had to switch brands]
make what you will of that timeline.
the good news is i also happen to be a philip morris stockholder with stock my grandfather left me. and my smokes now taste better also because i regulate the flavor. the bad news is that it's a pain in my ass and i'd rather pay for the convenience.
and no, i can't stand regular cigarettes
]]>*Thumbs up*
]]>But I loved clove smokers. If clove smoking is to be banned it should come after banning incense which I find more obnoxious and all observational evidence shows it causes brain damage in people who light them.
]]>If they want to keep kids from smoking ANYTHING, then they need to enforce the laws that are already on the books, not deprive law abiding adults. I'm not a smoker, but I think adults have rights. Go after the gas station attendants. If anyone is selling smokes to the neighborhood kids, it tends to be them.
I wonder about flavored beer. Is my framboise lambic or pumpkin ale next? Home brewing is nice and all, but there's an undeniable ease of going to the store and picking up a tasty 6-pack. It's good to be an adult, but are these next?
]]>Menthol smokers would have just switchted brands if Menthol was banned. Maybe a black market would have developed for Menthols.
]]>Goodbye clove cigarettes, hello clove cigars.
]]>Yes, this will ban flavored cigars. But I'm not sure why you are so gleeful.
I used to smoke cherry cigarellos every now and then (and no, I didn't use them to roll a blunt). While I'm not going to argue that they are healthy, they certainly aren't any more unhealthy than a regular swisher sweet.
]]>I guess fancy goth kids need something to make them more fruity and independent by all wearing and smoking the same lame shit.
]]>But they will never ban cigs because the taxes they bring in are much easier to collect, and everyone pays them.
]]>@YouDidWhatNow?: I never understood why they saw flavored cigarettes like cloves as a gateway to smoking..generally they were the hardest and most expensive cigarettes to buy!
Hell, before the tax the hell out of tabacco days, IIRC I was paying twice as much for a pack of Djarim cloves as I would for a pack of Camels.
]]>They don't ban cigarettes because the taxes on them are too lucrative not to pass up.
In Massachusetts, cigarette taxes are $3.52 - $1.01 for the federal tax and $2.51 for the state, and that's before sales tax, etc. Tax accounts for anywhere between 45% of the price of name brand cigarettes to an eye popping 60%+ for the generics. That's higher than the IRS income tax ceiling of 35%.
I can guarantee that if the states actually advertised the actual tax rates, not just the tax values, you'd see people willing to go through nic fits just to avoid the tax.
]]>The real reason Menthol's weren't banned is the same reason no one will come out and just ban cigarettes entirely - they generate too much TAX revenue.
]]>That's all I have to add.
]]>If the FDA really cared about people's health, they would make ALL forms of tobacco illegal. Since they only care about their lobbyists profits, they never will.
]]>This is crap. Unless they can prove that flavored cigs are more harmful (to the point where theys hould be considered a controlled substance) then they should not be banned.
I dont even smoke and I think this is crap.
]]>@gemetzel: Im not a smoker, and hate the smell of cigarette smoke, but cigarettes only hurt those who choose to smoke them, so Im fine with them being legal.
]]>...@YouDidWhatNow?:
Also, I'd like to point out that people who smoke menthols are...get ready for it...SMOKERS. You know...the kind of people who have a hard time quitting smoking.
If you stopped selling menthols, you're not suddenly going to have 28% of all your customers go "oh, well I guess I'll never smoke again then." No, in fact I doubt very much that even 1% of those smokers would not just buy regular tobacco-flavored cigarettes and get back to business as usual.
]]>Yes, because total prohibition just works so well.
Also, how much you wanna bet smoke shops start selling flavorings to mix into loose tobacco?
]]>The state has a duty to craft laws that are narrowly tailored to explicit and justifiable purposes. I do not want there to be any discretion in law enforcement. What is illegal should be a short and explicit list with no room to add things we discover later we don't like so much (at least not ex-post-facto). Criminalizing behaviour of groups you don't like very much and/or want to "improve" smacks of the overreaching and busybody state which prevents people from achieving the freedom that same state is supposed to be protecting.
]]>My god just ban all cigarettes already. This is bullshit and everyone knows it. CUT THE FOREPLAY AND MAKE THEM ILLEGAL. Smoking is awful and expensive and puts a huge burden on the families and non-smokers who have to deal with it's horrible results. SMOKING IS NOT A RIGHT, IT IS AN ADDICTION.
]]>We smokers do realize that it stinks and makes us stink, by the way.
]]>I know, I know. I could just choose not to smoke at all. But I am weak.
]]>Retards. I love clove cigarettes...on the rare occasion that I get any.
And I don't buy for a second that any "kids" were being enticed to cigarettes by the allure of smoking cloves. Candy flavors, maybe. Cloves? No.
So someone explain to me why I, a 30-something year old occasional smoker can buy a 1/2 pound cigar and smoke it, but not a clove cigarette?
One more giant EFF YOU to the mental midgets in charge of this crap.
For that matter, I firmly do not agree in them banning candy flavors either. If adults want to smoke grape-flavored cigs (I don't know why you would, but...), then let them.
Stop the asshattery already. Unban cigarettes, make pot legal, admit that teh War on Drugs is a total failure and let everyone get on with their lives.
]]>You ever hop into a smoker's car?
]]>I think he just hated the habit and found it offensive.
]]>I used to have a co-worker who smoked cloves, and honestly I didn't mind the smell on her as much as I did the normal smokers.
If we're going to let tobacco be legal, then it should be allowed to be whatever flavour sells. If we're going to ban it, then do so and deal with that feces-storm.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go have a chocolate lager.
]]>I really like the smell of secondhand clove smoke. It helps cut through the eau du subway piss that hangs over commuter options in the city.
]]>@Kishi:
Very tragic. I LOVED cloves when I smoked. I also loved charging people a buck to bum them off me.
And the icing of this crummy cake is they have the NERVE to not touch menthol. Ugh.
(Of course, I am being sarcastic. Thanks to a certain addictive additive, Morris and the others have nothing to fear. There will be no backlash, people love their smokes far too much.)
]]>Same with alcopops that disguise the alcohol flavor to make the drink taste more like a soft drink or fruit drink.
In both cases, I think the government interference--right or wrong--is aimed at preventing these industries from bringing in new customers at a young age. They're not really designed to tell adults what's good or bad for them.
]]>Smoking is a great example of people following marketing over common sense.
]]>What tax revenue? Ever since my home state of Texas raised the taxes yet again *and* mandated the friggin "Fire Safe Cigarette" crap (Tastes like sh*t and can *Cause* fires, BTW), I've been buying out of the country.
It's hilarious that I can buy 6 cartons of smokes from the friggin UKRAINE (made in Switzerland) for a tiny bit more than I can buy 2 cartons in my home state... That's with shipping! And they taste like what I remember =P
]]>This has been discussed in the past a lot. Because menthols are mostly smoked by blacks, this topic is a very touchy race issue similar to the bar sign from last week (banning people wearing certain clothes). If the FDA banned menthols, there is a fear that they would be accused of "targeting blacks."
@Shivver: I'm a "never smoker" and believe that people who smoke are stupid for doing it. However, I think that if someone wants to smoke, they should be allowed to do so. If someone wants to smoke menthols or cherry flavored cigarettes, they should be allowed to. Although I like the banning of smoking in restaurants, I think the banning of smoking in bars is ridiculous (it's a part of bar atmosphere).
]]>It's only a short leap to flavored beers.
]]>As far as I understand, the Congressional Black Caucus influenced the exemption for menthol and this entire bill was backed by cigarette companies as a "we're saving children from gateway cigarettes" when most of them smoke menthol or regular anyways.
As a side not to this, clove cigarettes are only illegal for distribution. You are still able to import them from outside sources for personal consumption.
]]>I say that as an on-again smoker who would love to see the public backlash such a ban would cause. Not to mention the resulting budget crisis that would follow the collapse of cigarette tax revenue.
]]>