nifty legal side note because of treaties the post office will still be legally required to deliver these illegal purchases if they're made in certain countries such as England or Germany. Unless they just ban tobacco.
U.S. Congress Bill Would End Catalog/Internet Sales
- Thread starter briarfriar
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Except the federal government has no authority to impose a nationwide age limit. It could not do that for alcohol, so it extorted the states into raising their drinking age laws to 21 by threatening to withhold highway funds.
Obviously I am the target demographic of the "Youth Tobacco Epidemic." I'm flattered. All you crusty old people are in trouble.
Oh wait....
Said it before, I'll keep saying it. The govt's motto is truly "We're not happy until you're not happy."
Oh wait....
Said it before, I'll keep saying it. The govt's motto is truly "We're not happy until you're not happy."
I spoke this afternoon with a pipe smoker who was until two years ago a staffer for a Congressman. He has no earthly idea of this particular bills ultimate fate, but when I mentioned that maybe pipe tobacco could be exempted like “premium cigars”, he just laughed, and said “To the people behind this bill, pipe tobacco = RYO.” And as has been reported, “they” have been wanting to close that so called loophole for years.
In writing your Congress people or state legislators, you have your choice. You can do it as therapy and vent all your displeasure, which will win you a tick mark on their list under the category "against," or you can go for a win and rein in your emotions and reel off your cogent points on public sentiment and economic impact that they must weigh. You'll get more for the cost of your stamp or wifi with the second option, but if you just need to get it off your chest, do so.
I'm no government expert but if I understand this correctly, it would have to pass through Congress and then signed into Law by the President. I'd like to think that seems unlikely at the moment but something like this is inevitable. Just a question of when. I hope quite some time.
Yes! Although loose tobacco internet and mail order sales are already prohibited under Washington State law, I have taken advantage of this “loophole” and successfully ordered from Estervals!
If pipe tobacco is a euphemism for RYO, maybe some enterprising lobbyist could get plug, rope, and flake tobacco exempted from the ban. I’m just dreaming, though.
Re ropes, twists and plugs, how those are sold in compliance with the existing ban on interstate chew sales is a mystery to me. Cotton Boll Twist differs from Brown Irish XX how? I mean, other than that one will knock you flat on your back and the other will only knock you to your knees. ?
Frankly I just don't see it happening. At least not on a Federal level. Some of you live in States that have already prohibited internet sales.
If the true goal of the legislation is to prevent underage sales, then there are creative solutions for this and the lobbies involved will be quick to point this out. A blanket ban on internet sales is an unsophisticated knee-jerk reaction.
It's a royal pain in the ass but (for example) Payless Cigar in Florida asks for a photo of your driver's license and they ship via UPS requiring an adult signature. It is a hassle but there is no way a minor would unintentionally receive tobacco from Payless. If that's the way it must be nationally then that's a compromise I'm willing to make for the right to purchase my tobacco online.
If the true goal of the legislation is to prevent underage sales, then there are creative solutions for this and the lobbies involved will be quick to point this out. A blanket ban on internet sales is an unsophisticated knee-jerk reaction.
It's a royal pain in the ass but (for example) Payless Cigar in Florida asks for a photo of your driver's license and they ship via UPS requiring an adult signature. It is a hassle but there is no way a minor would unintentionally receive tobacco from Payless. If that's the way it must be nationally then that's a compromise I'm willing to make for the right to purchase my tobacco online.
but you can order alcohol online??? wtf?
never heard of anyone crashing their car off tobacco unless it was 1792 flake.
never heard of anyone crashing their car off tobacco unless it was 1792 flake.
Problem is: that is NOT the true goal of the legislation. It has never been. That's just the EXCUSE; the real goal is to ban tobacco. It's done little by little. It's never been about health. It's never been about youth. It's never been about whatever they say it is about. It's ALWAYS been about big government and big tax grabs; and big fines when it's finally outlawed.
When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
If this passes, the optimistic side of me hopes that more tobacconists will pop up or the existing ones will increase their supply. Supply will often follow demand, and there will be a demand once people can't get it online and start clearing off the shelves of every b and m within driving distance. The reason local shops carry so little is because most people are buying online and there's less demand, but that could change.
The video of the subcommittee discussion is informative if you've got some time to spend on it. If you want to skip to HR 2339 portion, the opening statements conclude around the 51 minute mark and the real discussion of the bill starts thereafter.
HR 2339 Committee Video
HR 2339 Committee Video
In spite of our Northern neighbor's observation of such, there isn't any big conspiracy between "big government". "big tobacco" and the dreaded "them." The American Cancer Society started the ball rolling and carried the day years ago. So, yes indeed, the opening shots in the discussion were indeed proclamations of the deleterious effects of tobacco. Lung cancer was a death sentence and many families suffered the effects of such deaths. Back in the 50's it was all about the ill effects tobacco has on health. And that has never changed.
Today, it's just the majority of voters in small, local (city and county level) government elections that drive the anti-tobacco laws. People simply see no reason to tolerate tobacco in any form under any circumstances. Most see tobacco and the purveyors of such as insidious destroyers of physical health. We smokers can't defend tobacco use except from the selfish "I like it!" point of view. The fact that people, quite possibly sickened by tobacco use, demand their neighbors pay for their healthcare simply emboldens the "antis". We tobacco users are, quite possibly, our own worst enemies.
Will any of this lead to tobacco use being made illegal? Personally I doubt it. Will it become harder to procure the weed in its many forms? Happening as we sit here and read our screens.
Today, it's just the majority of voters in small, local (city and county level) government elections that drive the anti-tobacco laws. People simply see no reason to tolerate tobacco in any form under any circumstances. Most see tobacco and the purveyors of such as insidious destroyers of physical health. We smokers can't defend tobacco use except from the selfish "I like it!" point of view. The fact that people, quite possibly sickened by tobacco use, demand their neighbors pay for their healthcare simply emboldens the "antis". We tobacco users are, quite possibly, our own worst enemies.
Will any of this lead to tobacco use being made illegal? Personally I doubt it. Will it become harder to procure the weed in its many forms? Happening as we sit here and read our screens.
We have the power to vote out people who want to take out liberties away.
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