A Great 'Reason' Magazine Piece on FDA & Deeming

Is that a light at the end of the tunnel ?

At least the article keeps it real.
"This all started in 2009 when Congress passed the Tobacco Control Act, which gave the FDA authority to prevent the use of tobacco by young people. This was a time when the House of Representatives was controlled by Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Senate by Harry Reid (D-Nev.), with President Barack Obama in the White House. The sweeping new regulatory powers granted to the FDA are typical of the government expansion that has occurred in recent years. Without question, this was a contributing factor to the backlash vote we saw last month when Donald Trump and the Republicans, vowing to get rid of needless regulations, were swept into office."

Newcombe has a voice, so hopefully this gets circulated enough to make an impact.

The U.S. and many other nations seem to be increasingly binary in their thinking. All or nothing. Our way or no way. Our Constitution was brilliantly designed around balance, centrality, compromise, and negotiation -- all of which are increasingly becoming dirty words. It is not enough to dampen tobacco use, it must be eradicated in all its forms and variations. When I, or anyone, thinks they are absolutely categorically and forever right, I am, and anyone else is deep into "wrong" territory. Good article.

This piece by Rick is magnificent. I saw it on Facebook and promptly shared it. Further, I shared it not only with fellow pipers (preaching to the choir) but all my friends and relatives too. So should you.
hp

les

Great article.

Look at the pedestal of Thomas Jefferson's statue in the Jefferson Memorial and what do you see? Corn and tobacco. The United States was initially colonized largely by English laborers and their sponsors who were backed by English companies to establish commerce in the "New World". We all learned in school that it was freedom of religion but, Jamestown was all about establishing commerce first. Tobacco was a major part of that commerce and was responsible, in part, for this country's very existence. Hence, the reason the planning committee deemed (oops... "thought") it important to include corn and tobacco on Jefferson's memorial in addition to his agrarian experimentation. Even though, tobacco was the first profitable product to export from the colonies and so profitable it prevented wide spread product diversification.
Maybe we should all band together and demand the statue be torn down to prove a point that it's gone too far. Hell, in today's environment (oops again) I mean witch hunt, that notion might just get support. It's a shame this country has so little interest in history and tradition. Our form of government and constitution were hammered out in taverns and meeting places over bowls of tobacco but, who in government or in the general population, for that matter gives a shite? I suppose I'm preachin' to the choir though.

Okay, I was editing my post and it timed out: Here's the post in it's completed form--

Look at the pedestal of Thomas Jefferson's statue in the Jefferson Memorial and what do you see? Corn and tobacco. The United States was initially colonized largely by English laborers and their sponsors who were backed by English companies to establish commerce in the "New World". We all learned in school that it was freedom of religion but, Jamestown was all about establishing commerce first. Tobacco was a major part of that commerce and was responsible, in part, for this country's very existence. Hence, the reason the planning committee deemed (oops... "thought") it important to include corn and tobacco on Jefferson's memorial in addition to his agrarian experimentation. Even though, tobacco was the first profitable product to export from the colonies and so profitable it prevented wide spread product diversification.
Maybe we should all band together and demand the statue be torn down to prove a point that it's gone too far. Hell, in today's environment (oops again) I mean witch hunt, that notion might just get support. It's a shame this country has so little interest in history and tradition. Our form of government and constitution were hammered out in taverns and meeting places over bowls of tobacco but, who in government or in the general population, for that matter gives a shite? I suppose I'm preachin' to the choir though.
Although, with the recent change in political winds, we might want to reenergize our efforts and contact our elected officials urging them to reconsider the FDA draconian regulations and stress the history of tobacco-- and not just any tobacco, it was pipe tobacco-- in this country. Republican are more interested in tradition than Democrats. And I'm halfway serious about demanding the removal of Jefferson's statue in his memorial. If they-- the government-- supports the FDA then it's duplicitous to have a depiction of tobacco on a national memorial. Maybe I'm way off base with this-- just a thought. Okay, I'm done with my rant. Cheers.

With the recent onslaught of historical revisionism, removal of statues, place names and war memorials has become commonplace. I'm afraid that you will find an eager audience for talk of removing anything related to Jefferson.

Great Article, its interesting to go back and read the piece that the author published in 1994 http://reason.com/archives/1994/07/01/put-that-in-your-pipe

Very good article It's too bad we've moved beyond reason in this country.

Rick is a smart, knowledgeable guy, and his reasoning and writing skills are never sharper than when he's making a point.
Great job, Rick, and thank you from all of us. :clap:
That article needs to be sent to every pipe lover you know, and they need to pass it on to everyone they know.
With any luck, part of why Trump & Co. won the recent election IS because the US public is growing weary of the "nanny state" direction the US government has been been moving the past few decades, and shutting down the recent FDA tobacco silliness will be low hanging fruit for the incoming housecleaners.

Good read. Thanks.

The U.S. and many other nations seem to be increasingly binary in their thinking. All or nothing. Our way or no way.

Click to expand...

Great observation MSO. I think this is an evolutionary obsolete leftover of human nature. We put things in very black & white categories which probably helped with survival at some point, but leaves us unable to take nuance and circumstance into account and see the bigger picture.

While the Democratic congress and President Obama may have passed the 2009 Tobacco Control Act; the FDA completely over-reached on their regulations; which was not part of the original legislation. While Congress did not rein in the FDA on their over-reach, I don't see the new Congress reining in the FDA either. They're going to be to busy repealing President Obama's legislation from the last 8 years. Besides that none of those Congress men and woman really care about what the people want. They only care about their own agenda's. If they cared they would have passed the bills in the House and the Senate in recent years pertaining to premium cigars. Remember the House and Senate have been under Republican control for the past 4 years, and while under their control those bills got very little attention if I recall correctly. None of the Congress men and woman wanted to be known for supporting a "habit" or what we call a hobby for what is seen as a "horribly addictive drug" and does nothing but kill people. At least that's what some people would have you believe. So while I don't believe our new Congress will change anything in regards to the deeming regulations; I do believe that our courts will see the errors and the over-reach that the FDA committed and correct the deeming regulations and rein in the FDA and hold them to what the initial intent of the 2009 Tobacco Control Act was designed.
I think of the FDA's over-reach as a negotiation process; you ask for everything and then negotiate down to what you really wanted all along and maybe a little extra if you're lucky. After the courts rule in our favor, or so I'm hoping they will, the FDA will meet with the pipe and cigar agencies that filed the lawsuit to work out a legitimate or at least somewhat reasonable regulations for which the Tobacco Control Act was created.

There has been a House Bill pending for about two years dealing with the deming date and there is interest in the Senate. Unfortunately, no one is talking about nuking the FDA's tobacco power grab, just the deeming dates. I expect the House and Senate will pass bills on the deeming date, moving it to May 2016 or thereabouts, and without obama to veto it, it should become law. That would be a big help. But a 1-1-17 deeming date working prospectively would be far better as so many great blends have appeared in the last few months.

Potential relief in sight?
Washington Post article:
House conservatives want Trump to undo regulations on...

metalhead', boy, I hope you're right. That would be a whole new day.

I have no doubt the republicans will do something, and as indicated in the article linked by macpiper, it could be something great:
Smokers. One recommendation would end funding for smoke-free public housing; another would remove tobacco products from the Food and Drug Administration’s purview. “The worst fear of cigar manufacturers and smokers alike has been that the FDA will impose the same onerous premarket review requirements on cigars that it currently places on cigarettes,” the Republicans write.