The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act

A sweeping reform bill regarding tobacco called The Family Smoking Prevention and Control Act was signed into law by President Obama on June 22, 2009. In case you haven’t heard about it, below is a quick summary of the new rules:

The FDA will now regulate the tobacco industry requiring tobacco companies to pay hundreds of millions in fees and register with the agency
FDA to ban flavored cigarettes (notable exception of Menthol – but leaves the door open to re-examine Menthol in 2 years)
Bans on marketing cigarettes as “Light” or “Low-tar”
Drastic revamping of marketing regulations in print-advertising
Larger, more robust warnings on packages
Disclosure of ingredients

The intent of the Bill is to reduce the amount of teens taking up the filthy habit. So, gentlemen, what say you on the new tobacco bill?

Greg Molyneux

Sweeping reform, it is as surprising as it is groundbreaking.

On some levels, as a non-smoker I could not care less about this bill. The proposed reform will have no direct impact on my lifestyle. That said, my libertarian undies get bunched the more the government imposes its misguided will on the lifestyle of free Americans. This proposition is full of spending, red tape, and failure that leaves me with two glaring questions:

How much will the government be increasing the FDA budget so they can bureaucratically regulate the new rules?
Secondly, how many mouth-breathers actually need to still learn that smoking is hazardous to your health?

I mean seriously, we DO NOT need to throw more money towards educating folks on the ills of cigarettes. Everyone knows they are bad for you, EVERYONE. If the government is so concerned about putting a real dent in the smoking population, it should raise butts to $25 a pack, pushing its price elasticity to the limit. Otherwise leave people to their own devices and call it a day.

We need less mandates on how to live from our noble representatives in Washington.

Greg Rineberg

In theory, this Tobacco Reform bill sounds great. The goal is to decrease the amount of youths taking up smoking by banning flavored cigarettes, instituting more stringent marketing regulations, and displaying all ingredients/side effects. I remember a couple years back, cigarette companies were no longer allowed to advertise in most magazines and/or billboards. It seems that less people smoke nowadays, perhaps this is a result of advertising regulations that banished Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man from billboards across America. Maybe regulating this type of advertisement is beneficial to the youths of America.

There is one part of this bill that concerns me greatly. The downside of having the tobacco industry pay hundreds of millions in fees is that they are going to need save money and still make a profit. I think that this would force tobacco companies to not only up the prices, but also start skimping on tobacco as a main ingredient. Well what else are they going to put in there? More chemicals, nicotine, and various other rat poisons that make cigarettes so addictive in the first place.

On a Final Note:

This bill seems like it could do a lot of good, but I think that kids will still find a way to get hooked (they always do). The more anything seems taboo for a kid to do, the more apt they are going to try it regardless of what anyone does about it. That’s just the nature of being childlike.

Andrew Blanco

Cigarettes are interesting. Their place in American culture is undeniable. Their popularity, normality, and widespread use is the main reason it has taken so long for government regulation to be put in place against these cancer sticks in sheep’s clothing. Their popularity is uncontrollable addiction in disguise.

I’d normally advocate freedom of the individual over government regulation and intervention, but, there’s more than enough research to prove that government regulation is necessary in the case of tobacco. Research shows that cigarette addiction is a) extremely hard to quit, and b) fatal over long periods of time. This new tobacco regulation is not attempting to save those who smoke already, but rather it is attempting to save those who have yet to start up a habit: our youngest generation of Americans.

I think this new regulation will successfully lower the percentage of kids who start smoking by 1) getting rid of flavored cigs, a popular alternative route to addiction, and 2) putting graphic pictures of cancer lungs on packaging. When I was in Montreal I personally encountered this graphic approach towards cig packaging and I have to admit it made me want to throw up my lunch. I’m sure pictures of cancer lungs will make people think twice about picking up a cigarette.

Jack Gamble

No, Jason, you are sadly mistaken. The intent of this bill is not to keep teens from smoking. If he wanted to stop teens from smoking, then perhaps he who is unfortunately now the biggest role model in the civilized world would set a better example and kick the habit himself.

Here is what I think the intent of the bill is:

For Barack Osama to get his hands on more money so he can give it away to some lazy idiot who wants to continue doing nothing for the rest of his worthless life.
For him to raise taxes without actually raising taxes.
To create another wasteful government bureaucracy.
To distract people from the fact that he is once again spending over $1,000,000,000,000.00 on something.
To continue to do nothing about energy.
To avoid saying anything of substance about hundreds of thousands of Iranians who are fighting for thier freedom in a country that is otherwise likely to start a nuclear war.
To distract people that he is trying to sneak a racist onto the Supreme Court
To distract people from the fact that Kim Jong Il has exposed him as the biggest pussy to ever occupy the Oval Office. “Pretty please, Mr. Oppressive Dictator, pretty please let my wittle bitty Marines board your ship smuggling material to build nuclear weapons to the Middle East…I’ll let you ride my bike if you do”

Jeff Ruemeli

As a smoker trying to quit I somehow don’t care to much about this bill. Although I’d like to know what was in those cancer sticks I’ve been inhaling. I’m torn about how I feel about this piece of legislation. Half of me says it’s good because no one should smoke. The other half of me says that we, as Americans, have the right to be free to smoke if we choose to do so.