The American Spectator : Dragging Us Down

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Dragging Us Down

By Zachary David Skaggs on 4.16.09 @ 6:06AM

Will we soon have FDA-approved cigarettes, thanks to Henry Waxman and Philip Morris?

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The bill contains has yet another tobacco tax, this one a "user fee" on manufacturers of tobacco products. This is yet another barrier to entry -- large costs that an established firm like Philip Morris can afford but smaller companies are more likely to find prohibitive. As those additional taxes are passed down to the consumer, the demand for cheaper, gray-market cigarettes lacking tax stamps will grow, as will the crime that goes with it.

The Waxman-Kennedy legislation has some provisions, such as increased monitoring and reporting of the chemical additives found in most commercial cigarettes, which could arguably increase the health of the smoking public. Yet the FDA regularly bans alternative nicotine products that lack those additives.

Such contradictions will ultimately make this plan a big loser. The "evil" Big Tobacco companies will just get bigger, and the average tobacco consumer will be left with higher costs, less information about and fewer choices for mitigating the harm that tobacco smoke can do. That's just not healthy.

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About the Author

Zachary David Skaggs is a health policy analyst with Liberty Coalition.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (12) | Leave a comment

Robert| 4.16.09 @ 9:52AM

I remember when this used to be a free country!

Adam| 4.16.09 @ 10:36AM

Cigarettes tried to kill me and now our Government is attempting to put the nail in my coffin. What's wrong with this picture?

I don't want to die because our Government is not what they are supposed to be. I am an adult and these decisions and potential risk taken on my part is soley up to me.

Why don't you ass clowns worry about real crisis. Like the one you have got this country in. HELLOOOOO!

www.luxvapor.com

JD Henry| 4.16.09 @ 10:41AM

Is obvious that the lobbyists are getting what they want on capital hill.

Robbins Mitchell| 4.16.09 @ 12:56PM

There is no truth to the rumor that Henry Waxman worked his way through college by pimping out his nose.

Tim| 4.16.09 @ 2:56PM

Nationalize the tobacco industry! Then President Obama can be our smokesperson.

2 Guns| 4.16.09 @ 6:58PM

JD, they aren't getting what they want, rather, they're getting what they PAID for.

ben| 4.16.09 @ 7:17PM

If cigarettes are so addictive, and second-hand smoke kills so many people, why then isn't anybody addicted to second-hand smoke?

Sam Wexler| 4.16.09 @ 11:52PM

Waxman, and most of his cohorts, have a BS in Political Science and a Law Degree. This superbly qualifies them to set standards for childrens articles and clothing, doesn't it. And he looks like a momma's boy, a mouth-breathing thumbsucker. Just who we nee to oversee technical matters.

Smoker| 4.19.09 @ 1:10AM

Mad as hell...but I have to keep taking it. I've quit a couple of times but I am happier smoking. I buy my own medical insurance and have never had a smoking-related illness. Since I'm on a small pension, I've had to switch to a cheaper (and stronger) cigarette. Guess I'll just have to buy black market. Waxman is nuts--just look at his picture. He is an ugly Carrie Nation and the democraps view smokers as cash cows to be plundered. How I wish I lived in the 1800's when people were more enlightened and had some common sense!

Electronic Cigarette| 4.19.09 @ 2:03PM

@ben - The nicotine is what is addictive in cigarettes and is not present in second hand smoke. Here's a Mayo Clinic study to show you briefly why 2nd hand smoke is such a big deal:

Secondhand smoke contains twice as much tar and nicotine per unit volume as does smoke inhaled from a cigarette. It contains 3X as much cancer-causing benzpyrene, 5X as much carbon monoxide, and 50X as much ammonia. Secondhand smoke from pipes and cigars is equally as harmful, if not more so (Mayo Clinic release, Aug 97).