FDA Begins Unannounced Inspections of Pipe Makers

[mikethompson]

This is still open? Wow this is like finding a Blockbuster video.
As you were.

 

[seldom]

Thanks for the synopsis there Cosmic. Think I'll leave it at that. I've enough things to worry about without adding any extra froth.
Personally speaking I like to smoke a pipe sometimes and come here to learn a bit more about pipes and tobacco and share in a bit of pipe smoking camaraderie (not to mention kill time during nap time for my sons). Political debate is so damn prevalent with everyone so dug in that I have come to loathe it. Lots of times I like people more before they start spouting political beliefs.
Anyhow, my boys are asleep so I'm going to step out to enjoy a bowl. Goodnight all. (IBTL)

 

[trudger]

Mr Gracik should not correspond with OSHA, those bastards are mean. When is the FDA pipe going up for sale?!

 

[gerryp]

"Tobacco pipe maker" is a slang term for "meth lab", according to a snitch working for the FDA.
My guess is the FDA guys said "Holy shit, somebody actually registered as a pipe maker???? We gotta see this!"

 

[cosmicfolklore]

The post also says that Jeff was forced to register by a retailer. That blows my mind, because if you do a Google search for the places that carry Jeff's pipes, the only places I could find that carries his pipes in the US was smokingpipes and his own website. Did smokingpipes do this? Did they make all of their pipemakers do this?

 

[carolinachurchwarden]

It's possible if Smoking Pipes has to register to the FDA as well. If they have to register then I'm sure there's likely a stipulation that all vendor goods sold through SP's must be registered as well.

 

[brian64]

This slow creeping death by a thousand cuts has gone on long enough.
It's time we all stop "kicking against the pricks" so to speak (no pun intended, really) and conform to the will of our fellow citizens and our beloved government and the pharmaceutical cartel medical science...and give up our dastardly ways, destroy all of our pipes and tobacco...and report to the nearest reeducation facility.
Who's with me?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Carolina, you’re right. It just read as if...

 

[swilford]

he post also says that Jeff was forced to register by a retailer. That blows my mind, because if you do a Google search for the places that carry Jeff's pipes, the only places I could find that carries his pipes in the US was smokingpipes and his own website. Did smokingpipes do this? Did they make all of their pipemakers do this?

Cosmic, the article doesn't say that he was forced by a retailer. The article says that in order to continue selling pipes to retailers (or anyone else), he was forced to register. And that he was assisted by a retailer.
We did hundreds of hours of free compliance work and spent tens of thousands of dollars to assist pipe makers with compliance. We didn't force them to do it. We paid for it for them because it made much more sense for one entity to shoulder that burden than the various pipemakers all shoulder it.
So, no, we didn't make anyone do anything. We effectively paid their legal bills and offered to help with the filings.
Sykes

 

[warren]

Well done! Looks to be a smart business decision. A plus for all involved.

 

[brian64]

We did hundreds of hours of free compliance work and spent tens of thousands of dollars to assist pipe makers with compliance.

Major kudos to SPC for doing this...and you have my sympathy...and I for one am outraged on your behalf that you had to do that.
The egregious and abusive absurdity of it is breathtaking.

 

[davet]

We effectively paid their legal bills and offered to help with the filings.

Well done :clap:

 

[bent1]

Thank you for the post, I had no idea this happened to a pipe carver.
My $0.02, I’m so tired of pipe, cigar, & other tobacco consumers taking it on the chin. I don’t want to cede any ground.

 

[olkofri]

My $0.02, I’m so tired of pipe, cigar, & other tobacco consumers taking it on the chin. I don’t want to cede any ground.

I completely agree. I'm fed up being pushed around too. However, how to fight back isn't very clear.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I was paraphrasing. The post didn’t make it sound as if he was very grateful. I realize that it is second person, but the writer gave the impression that he didn’t want to do it.

 

[trouttimes]

If someone is tweeked by the political slant of this post or any other, I would suggest doing the same as I do, change the channel, just don't click on this post. Seems simple to me. I, speaking for myself alone, like to be kept informed about all sides. I say carry on.

 

[craiginthecorn]

I volunteer as a CASA/GAL and have been getting a first-hand education on the inefficiencies of our government bureaucracies and regulations. The inordinate percentage of time and money spent on checking boxes and writing reports leaves far too little time and money to really help the kids they're required by law to protect. Well-intentioned employees who are underpaid, overworked, and frustrated resign after a short time, compounding the problem and leaving behind the overpaid, defeated, and unmotivated who are too lackadaisical to quit themselves. Meanwhile, huge amounts of ill-spent tax dollars get spent maintaining the status quo, meaning kids don't receive the services that they really need. Gee, I wish the government was in charge of my family's healthcare. Ugh.
The FDA sending multiple inspectors to the workshop of someone carving a pipe from a piece of wood is yet another collosal waste of tax dollars. I could MAYBE make an argument about ensuring that the bowl coatings and finishes are not harmful, but that's about the extent of it. This is what happens to honest and law-abiding folks like Jeff who comply.
Idiocy.

 

[craiginthecorn]

Thanks Sykes. While I'm sure it's important to your business that your suppliers don't run afoul of the law, it's remarkably forward-thinking of Laudisi to have shouldered this burden.
If Jeff Gracik was the first such target of FDA inspections, they couldn't have started in a better place. Jeff strikes me as extremely bright and level-headed, so despite any anxiety he may have felt, I'm certain he would have answered their questions in a calm and professional manner. Hopefully it will smooth the path for others.
I wonder if he was asked questions about the Behmor coffee roaster under his workbench. Surely that must have looked suspicious.

 

[woodsroad]

Some times, it’s better that you don’t find a thread until it’s run it’s course.

 

[woodsroad]

And so on.