Greatdane, NEVER underestimate whispering in the right ear in congress. I know of what I speak. One person or a few that get to the right people can move the world..
FDA Begins Unannounced Inspections of Pipe Makers
- Thread starter slrichman
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Something like this, Sable?
Yup, I dream about that kind of thing every time a new anti-smoking regulation goes up institutionally, locally, or nation-wide, but I seriously doubt it'd work. Personally, I'm not a fan of activism, one reason being that I haven't seen it work very well for many causes, especially when they are in the minority. I've seen placard-carrying pro-lifers silenty protest, and get nowhere, except jail for some. Other louder causes don't get anywhere either; I saw that with the protests against the migration pact last December in Ottawa and Calgary, and the thing was still signed.
As for being in the news, well, can you guarantee that? Maybe it's still a bit different in your country, but the news skew strongly in the direction of the political movement that is waging the war against tobacco. We'll get little to no sympathy for them. They won't even show up to report it, and if they're forced to show up, they'll downplay it, bury it in the bottom of the inmost page of their publications, AND insert their own spin to boot. I've seen this happen continuously. Now that the governments are in control of the media, it's hopeless. Heck, a major scandal is going on in Canada right now, and the media is silent.
When I suggested above about doing something I wasn't thinking about marches or, God forbid, going anti-fa-like on the government. I was thinking more of a concerted effort on the part of both consumer and industry groups to challenge these abuses in the courts. Alas, the article already pointed out a big problem: pipe makers are individualists. The 'rugged individualist' might be a very revered American image, but individualism simply doesn't work. Atomisation simply works to these bozos' advantage. If Satan were divided, how could his regulation corps stand? He isn't, and his minions prevail. We are, and we're the ones who can't stand. Yeats couldn't have said it better: 'the good lack all conviction, while the bad are full of passionate intensity'.
Yikes the guy is quoting Yeats at me! Somebody confiscate his library for the public good!
As for seeking relief from the legal system, that has been going on since the FDA Deeming rules were published, with some success. Most of that action has been taken on the behalf of the cigar industry, not on the behalf of pipe smokers.
Nope, no more than I can guarantee that you're not a three headed Sgloth convict escaped from the planet Therazoid. But I have been in and around media for 40 years and a good colorful story might very well get coverage if it will sell soap. Putting a human face to an anonymous generalization can be effective.
As for seeking relief from the legal system, that has been going on since the FDA Deeming rules were published, with some success. Most of that action has been taken on the behalf of the cigar industry, not on the behalf of pipe smokers.
Volun-told as it were.
Big ups to Sykes and SP for helping out the amazing carvers. I heard a bit about this when Tom Palmer from Peterson was in Las Vegas back in 2015 I think it was. He was saying as he knew it the FDA was going to enforce the registration per sku on pipes just as blends. In the pipe case you'd need a sku for an 03 rusticated system, a different one for an 03 sandblasted system, and a different one for an 03 smooth system, and a different one for an 03 red finish, and a different one for an 03 dress black finish. It's quite an absurdity.
Personally I think in some cases regulations are good. This is not really one of those cases. For one they aren't doing any studies into the products to find out how they should be regulated. The FDA in this case is basically like an HOA, just a group of old people with nothing better to do than stir the s*it pot.
Reflecting on this further, what I would really like to know is, what regulations regarding pipemaking were they ensuring were being followed? Do they even exist? Or was this possibly more of an educational fact-finding mission for the possible establishment of regulations? It kind of sounded like the latter to me.
^ That analogy doesn't work for me...because of this:
As I commented previously...the absurdity of it creates the perception of the actions being taken against tobacco to be reasonable and acceptable by comparison. And IMO, that's probably the primary reason for the "overreach".
You have to "sign up" if you want an FFL to begin with. In this case they're requiring people who are already carving pipes to sign up if they want to continue their trade.
As I commented previously...the absurdity of it creates the perception of the actions being taken against tobacco to be reasonable and acceptable by comparison. And IMO, that's probably the primary reason for the "overreach".
Yep, it's a hobson's choice. Like SGI here: you wanna own a car? You have to have insurance through us. You can buy extra insurance with your favourite company if you so want, but if you're not buying the basic coverage from us, the gov't company, you don't drive. Your "choice".
My read was that it was just as much about the umbrage of having FDA inspectors show up. “I was so shocked,” is the theme that runs through this article. While I applaud the pipemaker's willingness to comply with as-of-yet undefined requirements and regulations of the FDA, and to submit to regulation that may or may not apply to them, I am dumbfounded that they are surprised when the government does what it told them it would do: show up and inspect them.
I applaud Sykes and Laudisi for helping their suppliers navigate the swamp, but they should also provide some training as to what to expect when the FDA shows up, what the inspectors are allowed to do/see and what is/isn't required of the premises owner/permit holder at that time. Giving the FDA free reign is not the correct response.
I applaud Sykes and Laudisi for helping their suppliers navigate the swamp, but they should also provide some training as to what to expect when the FDA shows up, what the inspectors are allowed to do/see and what is/isn't required of the premises owner/permit holder at that time. Giving the FDA free reign is not the correct response.
Given that it doesn't sound like the FDA inspectors even knew what they were going to ask, look for, or investigate, it doesn't seem possible that Laudisi (or anyone else for that matter) would have any idea what someone should expect during an inspection.
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