Regulations are getting out of hand, as Im sure more than a few of you have noticed at least two or three times in the last forty-five seconds or so. And Im not just talking about E-cig regulations, but the entire regulatory environment of contemporary governments the world over. Somewhere along the way, someone must have looked at the world and said, You know what this complex world of infinite possibilities and combinations of possibilities needs? A bunch of organizations composed of unelected officials with completely unchecked, limitless power to over-complicate this already overly-complex planet at an exponentially-increasing rate until the whole of humanity grinds to a screeching halt resulting from an inability to move an inch without violating multiple ordinances, directives, mandates, and caveats, thereby coming in direct conflict with a regulatory issue based on previous rulings by said regulatory issues governing agency. In fact, Im almost certain that is EXACTLY how the original statement was worded, to ensure compliance with preexisting vernacular regulations, of course.
Now, this is an electronic cigarette-related blog post, so Im going to focus my attention here on the many proposed (and some already existing) regulations pertaining to the electronic cigarette industry. However, Im going to do that via metaphor, and the metaphor Ive chosen to employ is that of the Motion Picture Production Code (better known as the Hays Code) which was used in Hollywood as a pan-studio nationally-accepted guideline for the production of movies between the mid 1930s and the late 1960s:
Those of you who are adequately versed in the classic products of Hollywood of Yesteryear will immediately call to mind a series of favorite films released during the aforementioned time frame that are, at least by todays loose standards, wholesome to the point of being tame. No profanity, no nudity, no extreme acts of violence (outside of a few cheesy Thompson submachine gun-related deaths in a handful of Cagney flicks), no blatant sexual innuendo or entendre, etc. Weve been conditioned to think that this period of time was some sort of failure in terms of the grand American spirit of free speech. What many wont understand about the Hays Code is this: it was NOT a system of government-sponsored regulations. It was NOT the law of the land by any stretch of the imagination. It was actually a privately-operated organization. Without going into too much detail, the Hays Office came about as an answer to an outcry put forth by a majority of the population, and it did a very thorough job of placating that outcry... (Click here to read the rest of my article)
Too bad most people alive today are not aware of them. 
