If only our government was willing to fight America’s enemies with the same passion it reserves for smokers, the world would be a safer and happier place.
During his years as mayor, Mike BloomÂberg succeeded in pushing through initiatives targeting tobacco. It started with a ban on smoking in the city’s bars and restaurants and ended with hiking the minimum age to buy cigarettes to 21.
But we can’t blame Mayor Mike for the latest outbreak of tobacco nannyism. The federal Food and Drug Administration has proposed new rules — rooted in a law giving it the authority to regulate tobacco to keep youngsters from smoking — that target hand-rolled premium cigars.
Over at National Review, Jillian Melchior lays out what the FDA has in mind.
Basically, it would work just like the same tortuous FDA process for getting new drugs approved: A company would have to file an application for every new cigar it offered, a costly procedure that involves lots of lawyers and 5,000 man-hours.
Many cigar-makers and sellers say they may have to shut down if the regs go through. That won’t matter to the zealots, whose real aim is to eliminate the tobacco industry altogether. But it should matter to people who care about jobs and letting adults make adult choices.
And here’s the kicker: The regs would exempt cigars designated as premium, but only if they carry an arbitrary price tag of at least 10 bucks.
So a Park Avenue plutocrat will get his smoke without interference, but the working stiff Joe who wants to relax with his $3 stogie after a hard week will be out of luck.