Reaction to WHO guidelines

[dc2k08]

when cigarette tax increases in america, it wont be to regulate them. it will be to pad out the coffers. check out this story:

Kentucky leaders look to increase cigarette tax to make up $450 million state shortfall this year


also bob, your wish might come true sooner than you imagine. it was in the news last week that the FDA is setting up an office in china to examine all the products that are exported to the states.

F.D.A. Opens Office in Beijing to Screen Food and Drug Exports

it has been criticised though as the chinese office will be made up of a lowly team of eight.

[sixstring]

Note also that it's not just nicotine that the FDA might seek to restrict if given the authority over tobacco products. It can tinker with the formula all it wants, banning some ingredients and restricting others. There is no limit that stops at nicotine. It can order all carcinogens out. There are more than 40 in tobacco smoke.

What I'm worried about is knowing how dumb our gub'mint can be.

They'll reduce only the amount of nic. allowed in real cigs - thus causing people to smoke more of the tar, and other crap just to get the same fix, and thereby die quicker.

[dc2k08]

It is interesting that the guidelines WHO are asking governments to implement will really show up our leaders' true colours. are they going to step up to the plate and adhere to these guidelines at a risk of actually preventing people from smoking and thereby loosing revenue. my guess and philip morris' i imagine is no..not for many counties anyway.

India were up front about it today. They decided to put off a decision that was supposed to be implemented Dec 1st, to place graphic warnings on cigarette packets. They feared that the move might actually persuade people to quit smoking and would stymy their revenue while they are holding up against the recession. well, least they're honest.

[TropicalBob]

DC,

1. Florida faces the same shortfall. Now, I'm always amused at what people here say cigarettes cost in their neck of the woods. I can drive a block and buy a pack of USA Gold (the brand I last smoked) for $2.20 a pack, taxes included. Now, Florida is looking at adding $1 a pack to ease the strain on the state budget by shortfalls in other taxes and tourism.

2. Great on the FDA in China. Great. Eight people can have an amazing impact just by saying no e-liquid (for instance) will be allowed into the United States from China unless it meets the following purity standards ... etc. Conform or die, in other words. We need to get really firm with China. No more crap in food and medicine. No more crap.

[dc2k08]

i see nude beaches might be on the cards down there in god's waiting room too bob. could take the edge off any $1 increase !!

Raise cigarette taxes, allow nude bathing to save budget, residents tell state lawmakers


Here's a story from today that could go either way for electronic cigarettes and one reason we might not want to be contacting any members of congress about our new flavoured nicotine delivery devices.

Attorney General Rob McKenna has said he'll ask the Legislature to ban the shipment of Internet cigarettes to anyone other than licensed wholesalers or retail stores (for the children of course)
Washington may limit Internet cigarette shipments

[TropicalBob]

Whoa! Take my word for it, you do not want to see a majority of the residents in God's Waiting Room naked on a beach .. or anywhere.

Small aside: As a reporter, I once covered a nudist wedding (we have lots of nudist camps in Central Florida). The deputy sheriff who performed the ceremony and myself were the only ones with clothes. The bride was quite obviously pregnant. I had a devil of a time getting angles for photographs my newspaper could publish!

That ban on Internet sales is only one of many proposals heading for action. Another would ban shipping by the postal service or a private carrier. Another bans use of credit cards or credit services like PayPal for purchase of any tobacco product. So far, the magic words "electronic cigarettes" haven't popped up in the bills.

The bottom line in all this is that anti-tobacco forces, having successfully banned smoking in most public places, now want to make it prohibitively expensive and extremely difficult to obtain smoking materials. Once obtained, the tobacco can't be used in any public (and some private, eg. car with anyone under 18 in it) places. What's next? Licensing of smokers with proof needed at point of purchase? I would not be at all surprised.

Note that the newest thrust is an attack on smokeless. You can rest assured that it won't stop there. E-smoking will be a future target. And don't even think of arguing that e-smoking is "heathy". Healthy, they will tell you, is not using tobacco or nicotine. Quit or die.

[dc2k08]

As a reporter, I once covered a nudist wedding (we have lots of nudist camps in Central Florida). The deputy sheriff who performed the ceremony and myself were the only ones with clothes. The bride was quite obviously pregnant. I had a devil of a time getting angles for photographs my newspaper could publish!

sounds like a hoot bob, i can well imagine.

The nudist beach idea is to attract naturists into the area, not strip the present residents of their clothes and charge them for the honor. but you have a point. perhaps even having those type of life-stylers in your vicinity wouldn't take the edge off much. having had to browse through quite a few copies of naturist monthly during the great porn prohibition in my school days, i can testify to this.

Note that the newest thrust is an attack on smokeless. You can rest assured that it won't stop there. E-smoking will be a future target. And don't even think of arguing that e-smoking is "heathy". Healthy, they will tell you, is not using tobacco or nicotine. Quit or die

true story. for evidence to the contrary, i might be able to point some recent research and maintain that i'm only self medicating to stave off Parkinson's and Alzheimer's apparently.
Nicotine: can it save your brain? | COSMOS magazine