Thursday, April 24, 2014
April 25, 2014 - Issue #756"The problem is that agencies sometimes lose sight of common sense as they create regulations." - Fred Thompson |
The Food and Drug Administration will propose its first regulations for electronic cigarettes, including requiring health warnings and banning sales to minors. Regulators do not yet have scientific evidence for a rule on flavorings, but the subject is still being researched, Mitchell Zeller, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, told reporters. "There are far more questions than answers," he said, adding that the new regulation would provide a "framework" for additional rules in the future. The FDA has been trying to regulate the devices for at least five years. In 2009, the agency sought to impose restrictions on them as medical devices designed to deliver nicotine, a chemical compound that is addictive.
After a federal court struck down that effort the next year, the agency switched grounds and declared that it could issue rules for the devices under the authority Congress gave it to regulate tobacco products. Regulating the devices raises more complex issues than rules for traditional cigarettes because the health impact of e-cigarettes is unclear. Supporters say they could be beneficial by allowing users to get nicotine without the exposure to tar and other carcinogens found in cigarette smoke. They have touted the devices as an effective way for some of the country's roughly 42 million smokers to quit.
FL HB169 on Vaping: A new Florida law could directly affect your access to vaping supplies. There is a bill that is about to be passed in the Florida House of Representatives which could possibly be used to eliminate online sales of nicotine, e-liquids and e-cigarettes to adults in Florida. We believe this is a heavy-handed approach which will unfairly limit access to an effective alternative for many adult smokers and vapers in Florida. MI Land of the Formerly Free? By Jonas Jagielski. We The People had control, and that was comforting. This was when freedom meant real freedom, and wasn't just a word. The less we are willing to stand up together, despite our differences, the more we allow ourselves to be swallowed up into a tightly controlled environment. There have been positive changes since I was a kid, sure--but it's been one step forward, ten steps back. The positives have been eclipsed by the ever-tightening grip of control and we all feel it. AND Ann Arbor Smoking Ban Passes. It will ban smoking within 10 feet of a bus stop and 20 feet of any windows, entrances or ventilation systems of city property. In addition, the new law will also give the city administrator the authority to designate other public lands as smoke-free. The Bundy Ranch Update... The BLM has now withdrawn. Bundy has his moment of triumph. The cries of victory are thrilling. But we know it's not over yet. The BLM did not leave because angry citizens outnumbered their assault force by 100 to 1. Nothing has touched the BLM's ability to return. Get real: the BLM invaders left when it got ugly because it’s an election year and they're all Democrats. They'll be back. Property rights defenders can stop them. We can go on the attack in the courts with organized funding to adjudicate protection for every last vested right in the American West. We have the laws to do it. Stay on target: the federal power to abuse must be destroyed. |
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Thursday, April 17, 2014
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April 18, 2014 - Issue #755 "We cannot afford the EPA's continued expansion of red tape that is slowing economic growth and threatening to entangle millions of small businesses." - Fred Upton |
EPA Concedes: We Can't Produce All the Data Justifying Clean Air Rules. Seven months after being subpoenaed by Congress, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy conceded that her agency does not have - and cannot produce - all of the scientific data used for decades to justify numerous rules and regulations under the Clean Air Act. "Virtually every regulation proposed by the Obama administration has been justified by nontransparent data and unverifiable claims," committee chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said in February, denouncing what he called EPA's "secret science." "The American people foot the bill for EPA's costly regulations, and they have a right to see the underlying science. Costly environmental regulations should be based on publicly available data so that independent scientists can verify the EPA's claims." HR 4012, which would amend the Environmental Research, Development and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978, states that "the Administrator shall not propose, finalize, or disseminate a covered action unless all scientific and technical information relied on to support such covered action is (A) specifically identified; and (B) publicly available in a manner that is sufficient for independent analysis and substantial reproduction of research results."
Cuba, Dominican Republic set up WTO fight over Australia tobacco law. Along fellow plaintiff Honduras, Cuba and the Dominican Republic say that by covering all tobacco products, not just cigarettes, the legislation harms their traditional cigar brands. Also involved in the WTO case are Indonesia and Ukraine, both of which are leading raw tobacco and cigarette exporters. The Geneva-based World Trade Organization ensures that its 159 members respect the rules of global commerce. If its disputes panel of independent trade and legal experts finds against Australia, it has the power to authorise retaliatory trade measures by the wronged countries.
WHO - So now e-cigarettes are tobacco products AND medicines?! The forces ranged against e-cigarette users are endless and become less accountable at every turn. We have already been faced by the MHRA, the Department of Health and the European Commission. Now comes the World Health Organisation, an unelected body with strong financial links to the pharmaceutical industry which holds its meetings on tobacco in notorious secrecy. The WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control can only be applied to tobacco whereas the MHRA only regulates medicines. Necessity is the mother of invention, hence the eager rush to pretend that e-cigarettes are something they not. The WHO's excuse for classifying e-cigs as tobacco products is that the nicotine in them comes from tobacco. But the nicotine in patches and gum also comes from tobacco. And whilst it is possible to artificially synthesise nicotine without using tobacco, it is much more expensive and the resulting fluid would be exactly the same. It is a risible justification.
EU Pushes for Changes in Hungary Legislation. Laws on Liquor Tax, Tobacco Products and Competition in Agriculture Targeted. Hungary is risking heavy fines unless it amends legislation that infringes EU laws on taxation of liquor, trade in tobacco products and competition in agriculture. The European Commission, the EU's executive, said Wednesday that Hungary has two months to act in each case or face being taken to the EU's top court, the Court of Justice, which could result in legal enforcement and heavy penalties. Also... At present, tobacco products labeled with a certain tax rate in Hungary cannot be sold 15 days after the date of a tax rate change. The EU doesn't allow the restriction of trade in tobacco products once they are released for sale, the Commission said.
E-Cigs Ruled Illegal In Western Australia. Cancer Council WA director of education and research Terry Slevin said it was a legal loophole that needed to be fixed because electronic cigarettes were a growing concern. Judge Pritchard found in favour of the Health Department and in her decision expanded her conclusion to determine that in effect any product E-Cig or otherwise that involves a hand to mouth action and results in the expulsion of vapour does in fact resemble a tobacco product and [therefore] falls under section 106a of the Tobacco Products Control Act of 2006.
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  Please help us get a new computer. Our only computer has gone the technology way of XP, and much like Monty Python's parrot, it is not resting, or stunned. It is defiantly deceased. It is no more. It has ceased to be. It has expired and gone to meet its maker. |
Thursday, April 10, 2014
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April 11, 2014 - Issue #754 "What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog." - Dwight D. Eisenhower |
Military Madness: "You ask me what we need to win this war. I answer, tobacco as much as bullets." So cabled the commander of the American Expeditionary Force, Gen. John Pershing, to the War Department in 1917. It's a long way from "Black Jack" Pershing to Chuck Hagel. Not that the Obama administration shies away from wars. It's just that the target is less likely to be the Russians or Iranians than our own troops: specifically, the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who smoke.
Tobacco plant joins fight against cancer: They have found a molecule in the flower of the plant that targets cancer cells and rips them open, according to an article in the journal eLife. 'There is some irony,' lead researcher Dr Mark Hulett says. 'But this is a welcome discovery, whatever the origin.' A promising feature of the molecule is that it targets cancer cells and does little damage to healthy cells. Also read: Over-Reaching California EPA Regulators Promoted A False Breast Cancer Link. By Geoffrey Kabat. Taxes on sugary drinks, tobacco are needed to maintain healthy society: The San Francisco Board of Supervisors isn't trying to ruin your life by taxing sugar and tobacco, or by banning water bottles and peanut butter. It's trying to make San Francisco the healthiest and safest it can be for everybody. Soda tax, "if passed, the tax is expected to raise approximately $30 million a year for the city." Ireland Sales Ban: Government "should consider banning cigarette sales after 6pm" a cross-party report by TDs and Senators has recommended. The report also says that consideration should be given to prohibiting the sale of cigarettes in pubs and clubs... The regulation of e-cigarettes... Plain packaging on tobacco products... Spain Ban Damage: Las Vegas Sands Abandons EuroVegas Project In Madrid, Spain. Company Will Instead Pursue Opportunities In Asia. LVS wanted assurances of compensation should future legislation make profitability difficult for the company and exemption from a nation-wide smoking ban. The $30 billion project, dubbed EuroVegas by CEO Sheldon Adelson, was supposed to feature 12 hotels, six casinos, three golf courses, a convention center and a large retail space, which would have created as many as 250,000 jobs. LVS originally chose Madrid over Barcelona. The announcement was celebrated in Madrid, the most populated city in a country that is in the middle of a drastic economic slump. The recession is most notably reflected in Spain's unemployment rate, which now sits at a staggering 26.7 percent. The casino company will now pursue opportunities in Asia. |
MN: Austin bans e-cigs in public places. The measure bans e-cigarette use in public places, similar to tobacco products. It does not prevent e-cigarettes from being sold or used on private property.
NJ: Proposed E-cigarette tax. Christie's proposed e-cigarette tax is for public health, state treasurer says. Christie's budget anticipates $35 million in revenue by applying the $2.70 per pack regular state tax on cigarettes to the electronic cigarettes, which deliver nicotine in the form of water vapor. NY: Ban "E-Liquids" Proposal. Senator Kemp Hannon (R-Nassau) "Forms of liquid nicotine need to be reviewed and scrutinized more than other tobacco and nicotine products." USA: Calls to Action! Read the CASAA E-cigarette alerts in NY, MA, CA, LA, OH, NJ, and more. UK: The pointlessness of the prohibitionists. It's in our genes. Whether "smoking" is practiced technologically, as in vaping, or by using combustion, as in the old way, the practise will never be eradicated. Neither will alcohol, or gambling. It's in our genes. Read Clive Bates report on the UK E-cigarette advertising code consultation. UK: E-cig ban would be 'nail in coffin' for Uttoxeter's pubs. The smoking ban, which has had a devastating affect on pubs, has already taken away the human rights of my locals. I'm not a smoker but, if I had the option, I'd definitely allow people to smoke in the Talbot. Most people use e-cigarettes to cut down or quit altogether and we should be encouraging that.  |
Thursday, April 03, 2014
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April 4, 2014 - Issue #753 "No one loves the messenger who brings bad news" - Antigone by Sophocles |
Secondhand Smoke, Third-Rate Science: In a perfect world, it wouldn't be necessary for me to begin this article by affirming that I am not a supporter of smoking, nor am I a paid shill of the tobacco industry. But in our real world - in which a goodly amount of scientific research grant money is awarded on the basis of sensationalized fearmongering results - those who question the validity of such results are often attacked. "Kill the messenger" is hardly a new phenomenon, having been recorded as early as 442 BC in the play Antigone by Sophocles.
Rush Limbaugh: Libs Hell-Bent on Banning E-Cigarettes. How many of you are using e-cigarettes? It's an increasing number of people. But, man, the New York Times is just hell-bent on wiping them out -- and not just the New York Times. Democrats everywhere are hell-bent on wiping out this product. You would think that they would try to come up with a way to tax it. They haven't banned cigarettes. I mean, how many years have they been talking about cigarettes as killer and ruination for our children? But they never ban the product. They still sell it. They're using tax revenues, sale tax revenue from the sale of tobacco products to fund children's health care programs. They can't ban tobacco, but they are hell-bent on getting rid of electronic cigarettes. They're lying about things in the process of doing it. 
People smoke more where packets show NO branding: Smokers buy cheaper cigarettes in plain packaging. Industry data from Australia has warned plain packaging could lead to a rise in the sale of cigarette packs, because smokers, and potential smokers, will no longer care about buying expensive brands. The industry data suggests the amount of tobacco delivered to retailers has actually risen since the move to plain packaging was introduced in 2012.
France pushes fast-food tax: "Taxation and public health: evaluation of behavioural taxation." The aim of the report is to evaluate a behavioural tax to counter poor dietary habits, which could compensate for the public health costs associated with the consumption of junk-food. NJ Elizabeth Bans: Bans smoking at all municipal buildings, parks, properties. Michael McFadden, mid-Atlantic regional director of the Citizens Freedom Alliance, which advocates for smokers' rights, the claims about the effects of second-hand smoke on non-smokers are overblown. "The whole second-hand smoke thing is nonsense when you're talking outside," he said. He said there are better ways to deal with the influences on children and the litter. "If they're worried about setting better examples for children, they ought to get rid of the smoking ban in bars. It pushed smokers outside where the children can see them," McFadden said. 
MD Universities: Maryland lawmakers are looking to return the favor for banning smoking at publicly funded universities by taking away the hand that feeds them. Since July 2013, the legal activity of lighting up and smoking tobacco products has been banned from Maryland's public universities. A new bill would deduct the proportionate amount of of revenue the state receives from tobacco taxes. If the bill passes, the university system would lose about $33.8 million in fiscal year 2015.
Listen to The War on Smoking: David W. Kuneman, Midwest Regional Director for Citizens Freedom Alliance interview. Fifty years ago the US surgeon general declared that cigarettes are deadly. By now, that's a message that's hard to ignore... Listen to Anti-Nanny with Ravengrim: Theodore J King, Oklahoma State Coordinator of The Smoker's Club, is their guest. He is the author of the wonderful book The War on Smokers and the Rise of the Nanny State. Read the new book Cigarettiquette: By Sandy Lynn Riefberg, at our new Amazon store. Thank you for helping The Smoker's Club and The Property Rights Newsletter, by using our store to search for all of your Amazon purchases. 
UK Taxpayer money: For pregnant women to quit smoking. Dia Chakravarty, political director of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "This is a ridiculous scheme which was doomed to fail from the beginning - and it has - costing the taxpayers a huge sum of money." "There is absolutely no justification for health chiefs to waste yet more of hard-pressed residents' money by rolling out this failed scheme."
Wales electronic cigarette ban: Ministers say they are responding to concern that the devices - which can contain nicotine - normalise smoking and undermine the smoking ban. Welsh Conservatives described the ban as a "step backwards" for quitters. |
 World Smokers News - See today's breaking news about smoking. |
