Banned: Flavored Cigarettes
By: Jess | October 01, 2009 | Category: Health
Last week cigarettes with candy and clove flavors were banned in the United States as the first step in the new Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
The reason for the ban was to get rid of flavored cigarettes, which may attract more kids and teens to begin smoking, leading to a lifelong habit. Companies that continue to ship the products in the country will be subject to punishment from the FDA. A phone number (1-877-CTP-1373) and website have been set up for people to report if they continue to see these products for sale.
I'm not a smoker, so this ban doesn't affect me on a personal level, but I want to know what you all think. Smoking is a personal issue for a lot of people, so please share your opinions on the new ban. (Please make sure to read our comment guidelines before doing so.)
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I'm thinking we may also need to ban sugar, since it is a cause for over eating in America. Of course, we should ban bicycles, because it can cause children to want motorcycles and you know how dangerous motorcycles are.
Do I need to go on?!
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Is it because American tobacco companies produce menthols?
If the government were genuinely concerned about the health of 'young people', it would ban sugary sodas & juice drinks, since more young people are obese than smoke.
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The heroes, the Capones of the 21st-century
I sincerely believe that we need to discourage anyone from starting to smoke cigarettes in the first place. However, this new law or proclamation, will give the cartels, drug dealers, gangs, and the different forms of Mafia around the world incredible power; over millions of citizens, and local governments, in the United States. We have smokers in incredibly powerful positions everywhere in our local, county, state, and federal agencies.
The most powerful positions, are usually the lesser paid positions. That person, with their finger on the keyboard, that could easily release terabytes of personal data... for what? A case of his or her favorite flavored tobacco. Or that minimum wage security guard at the back door. Will he walk away for a few minutes, for couple cartons of his favorite cigarettes? The family smoking prevention and tobacco control act has very little to do with protecting a general public, but has a great deal to do with money, power and control. I cannot believe that the FDA could be this naïve. I cannot believe that the ATF isn't having a fit about this.
This new law will do very little to protect the health of US citizens. But it will do a great deal of damage in creating a new criminal; the tobacco runners. We've seen what happened with prohibition... and with today's technology and firepower available on the streets, it's not going to be pretty.
The electronic cigarette/cigar is probably one of the best ideas anyone has come up with in a very long time. The only reason for banning it, is the government hasn't figured out how to regulate or tax it. I agree that the cartridges coming out a foreign countries are extremely dangerous; loaded up with all kinds of poisons. But the cartridges for these electronic cigarettes/cigars that have been produced in the United States, have not been proven to be any more harmful than a cup of coffee. But the FDA did not test a single cartridge made in the USA. Or if they did, the results were not published or included in the study.
Oregon seen how popular the electronic cigarette/cigar was becoming; they couldn't figure out how to tax them; so under the cloak of protecting the public, the electronic cigarette/cigar/pipe was banned in Oregon. At the same time, Oregon's educational system would completely collapse if not for the sin taxes. Oregon's economy is highly dependent on the sinners, and smokers, the drinkers, just about anyone who wants to have a good time on Friday night.
My greatest concern, up and above a teenager picking up a cigarette, is a teenager that will grow up a criminal, joining a gang, a cartel, or the black market. These criminal organizations will be hailed as hero's, like the whiskey runners during the Prohibition of alcohol. The public's and/or our children's heroes will be killers; the tobacco runner/dealer.
All of this; this criminal activity, brought on by government control. Over a product, that can be made as safe as a cup of coffee, safer than breathing downtown at rush hour, safer than a shot of strong liquor, but not taxable at the moment. An electronic cigarette/cigar is not a cigarette or cigar, and would not fall under most of the local ordinance control bans, and/or tax laws. Not to mention, a lot of people will have to try and explain why there has been no decrease in lung cancer or heart failure.
Right now the data on tobacco caused illnesses are controlled by simply modifying definitions, policies, and protocols; when correlating the data. Ask anyone who has ever written a grant successfully. They will tell you right up front, that you must become an expert in manipulating the data to meet the criteria of the grant. And believe it or not, it's not illegal to do this. In fact it's almost considered an art, to paint elaborate mural, a million-dollar mural, by calling some leftover finger paints, a recyclable product. Amazing isn't it...
Tobacco products, as they are being sold today, are dangerous and highly addictive. Every time I see a teenager with one in their mouth I have an incredible urge to walk up and slap that cigarette right out of their mouth. But then again, that's what the FDA is doing, and I would probably be creating a criminal myself; by doing such a thing.
I really had to sound off about this, because I'm not a person that sits behind a desk and makes rules. I'm out there, with the people, watching them and listening to their conversations. I sit by the fountain downtown, and listen to the gang members laugh at these new laws, and brag about how much money they're going to make. They brag about how much power they will soon have... how easy it will be to recruit... and how easy it's going to be to divide the classes, orchestrate anarchy, and start creating their own little countries, with in our cities; bigger and more powerful than they have ever been.
Okay... so I'll shut up now...
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Honestly, it would make a lot more sense to ban all tobacco products. The link with mortality and health care costs is undeniable, and not banning them, when far less dangerous substances are is hypocritical at best.
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Adults can make their own decisions, and pay the price for them, but candy cigarettes? I came across a website recently http://mesothelioma-lawsuits.info which talks about asbestos poisoning and the damage it can do. At the time the dangers of asbestos weren't known and many innocent people were harmed, but now we know the dangers of tobacco smoking - it makes sense to protect young people from being preyed upon by these vultures if at all possible.
Tobacco kills far more per year than asbestos ever will
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All sorts of things tasted foul to me as a child, including cigarettes coffee and beer.
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Any of us that smoke know that it is not good for us. It is also not good for us to drink to excess, it happens all over...be over weight, well here we are... Come on, we could go on for days about all that is unhealthy or dangerous for us.
Maybe enforcing and actually using properly what is already in place would be appropriate. The government needs to stop wasting my time, tax paying money and anything else attempting to "parent" me. I have wonderful parents and expect the government do perform as they were set up and elected to perform. Enough already!
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1) I don't think that this ban is going to keep young kids from smoking. I started smoking at age 13 and smoked full flavored cigarettes until i was 18. I have since quit but do smoke a few times a year.
2) I think that if flavored cigarettes are going to be banned then why isn't menthol in the ban as well?
3) I think anyone who is legal able to smoke should be able to choose what type or flavor they would like to smoke. I am 30 and while i am not a "smoker" i do enjoy cloves.
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