The Senate health committee is scheduled to consider a bill tomorrow that would allow the FDA to regulate cigarettes. It is getting stalled, however, because it would keep clove cigarettes legal. This is apparently unacceptable to sponsors of the bill, who are insisting that clove cigarettes, along with all other flavored cigarettes, should be banned. Their logic is that cigarettes flavored like strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla appeal too much to children, and therefore should be illegal. You know who also likes flavored cigarettes? Me. And a large number of other adult smokers. And you know what’s already illegal? Kids smoking in the first place.
This is just another variation on the recently proposed FDA regulations — kids shouldn’t watch violent TV, so we should ban all violent TV. Nevermind that adults might enjoy this TV. Nevermind that adults might enjoy flavored cigarettes. Never mind that adults might enjoy any particular thing — if it is bad for “the children,” it all must go. Entirely. Heaven forbid parents, schools, or anyone else ever have to prevent kids from doing anything themselves.
i don’t know what your problem is, elyzabethe.
everyone knows that the best forms of parenting comes from focus groups, senate subcommittees, panel discussions, and nancy grace.
this blog is now officially labelled subversive.
your ideas about parents raising their children is cute and quaint.
since the parental abilities of our governmental officials are well documented and beyond dispute, i hardly think the individual mothers and fathers out there are qualified to make the best choices in respect to their children. nor should they, in my opinion.
it’s not as if we should be encouraging free will or anything like that. or even acknowledging that it exists.
that kind of thinking puts you on a list!
you’ve really got to stop making me laugh out loud at my desk at work with your comments on here. between this and the abortion causes feminism and parody quotes of SCHIP legislators … sheesh …. your comments are now officially labeled subversive.
[...] didn’t already have it. The only part of the legislation I really have problems with is the banning of certain flavors of cigarettes in some sort of misguided attempt to “protect the children” (maybe because I give the [...]
Yeah, it’s all a bit ridiculous…
But by the way, and I’m not sure what it is here in DC, but where I came from (Massachusetts), kids smoking is not illegal. Purchasing cigarettes under the age of 18 is. Smoking them is NOT.
Now THAT’S ridiculous.
No, thats actually true. I’ve actually had cops tell me that “they dont care” that I was smoking, and I was 17 at the time. That should really be the concern-make selling AND smoking illegal for minors. I think that banning flavored cigarettes for everyone is ignorant. I never wanted to smoke flavored cigarettes, and I still started.
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What i don’t understand is this,
they want a ban on flavors like vanilla, strawberry and such, however if you look around you see most teen smokers smoking menthol Why isn’t menthol on the ban list?
Every teen i have ever seen smoking (this includes myself, as i was a teen smoker 13 years ago) was smoking either non-flavored or menthol. So why stop with just certain flavors, lets ban all cigarettes, and while we are at it we will ban the golden arches, that clown spokes person they have is just there to lure children through the doors, and the food they serve is just horribly unhealthy for kids. Like you said kids love wine coolers also, lets make them illegal too.
Where does this stop?