They are all illegal. On Tuesday, September 22, a law was passed banning the sale of flavored tobacco in the U.S.
You might have missed this news. I missed it. I just overheard it in conversation Tues. evening. The New York Times did not mention it on the first page, or the second page, or the seventeenth page for that matter. It was truly buried news. According to the FDA’s website, this is the first step under a new tobacco law, The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
This act puts regulation of the tobacco industry directly in the hands of the FDA. Subsequent steps of the regulation include the introduction of stronger warnings on product packaging. Think of the graphic warnings on tobacco products sold in Canada. These warnings will be in America by 2010.
The motivation behind the legislation is that flavored cigarettes draw a younger crowd. This leads to more smokers, more health problems, shorter lives… all the things that have been said before. Also, studies show that seventeen year olds are three times more likely than twenty-five year olds to smoke flavored cigarettes.
The ban only pertains to non-menthol, “smokeable” tobacco. So rest assured, tobacco aficionados can still get your flavor fix from chewing tobacco and Newports. Flavored cigarillos and mini cigars are also unaffected by the ban. It really isn’t an “All or nothing initiative.” Rather, it is incredibly haphazard. This is crystal clear when you look at the FDA’S approach to combating the newly illegal products. The FDA is asking for your help in combating the sale the illegal tobacco offering a report form through their government website. That’s right, if you see clove cigarettes being sold the FDA wants you to tattle on the sellers over the internet. The tidy little worksheet asks you the description of the product, whether or not you were able to purchase the product, information about the store and if you are interested you can also volunteer information about yourself. Awesome. A law was passed and the FDA isn’t even pretending that they have their bases covered. They want you to do the dirty work. That means the next time you walk into a store and see cloves for sale, you will be expected to alert the government via an online worksheet on the FDA’s website. The worksheets will be available online until March of 2010. So keep your eyes peeled when you go into the store because FDA now depends on you to their job. The reasoning behind this is as stated, “Youth are twice as likely to report seeing advertising for these flavored products as adults are.”
I get it. Something else is illegal now. But this self-policing policy is very odd. It’s fine if something is outlawed and the agency in charge regulates the law, but I just can’t get behind the FDA’s “tattling initiative.” If they want to really take charge they should do undercover stings like they do to combat underage alcohol purchases. Follow through, U.S. government: don’t put your burdens on your own citizens.
Let me finish by saying I am not a smoker. But I honestly feel that smokers are the last group of people who can be openly discriminated against. If people want to smoke, they are going to find a way. First it started with smoking bans in closed public spaces, then it moved to private residences: think off-campus housing. Cities like New York have plans in the works for banning smoking in outdoor public places like parks, the reason being that others should not have to watch others smoke.
It’s not even a matter of health at this point, it’s just trying to sweep a socially unacceptable habit under the rug. The thing is, those who have this “socially unacceptable habit” also have the right to enjoy their lives.