Ok fellow pipe smokers. Here’s your chance to offer some sane advice to the FDA on their recently approved regulation of tobacco.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is establishing a public docket to obtain information on the implementation of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. FDA is establishing this docket in order to provide an opportunity for all interested parties to provide information and share views on the implementation of the new law…
In principle, you're correct. It's safe to say that there is already a deeply embedded prejudice, given the plethora of negative indicators in the name of the legislation and some of the categories in which they will classify the "input" they receive (emphasis added):
We are particularly interested in comments on the approaches and actions the agency should consider initially to increase the likelihood of reducing the incidence and prevalence of tobacco product use and protecting the public health. Although the agency will not respond to specific suggestions, we will consider them in establishing the new Center for Tobacco Products and in implementing the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. In the future, we intend to solicit public input on specific issues. Please organize any comments you have in response to this notice using these general categories:
Federal, State, and local government collaboration; New product submission and approval;
Product ingredient disclosure; Prevention;
Tobacco use by specific groups including minors, women, and racial and ethnic minority populations;
Tobacco addiction; Smoking cessation;
Data collection;
Products with reduced harm/risk claims; Enforcement;
Research and testing;
Advertising and marketing of tobacco products;
Label statements and warnings (including graphic warnings);
Tobacco product standards (including flavors, ingredients, etc.);
Sale and distribution of tobacco products;
Manufacturing restrictions and facilities controls; and Other.
Such experiments in micromanaging people's pursuit of happiness have been tried before. They always fail. Their logical extension is, "Everything that is not permitted is forbidden." The ink was barely dry on the original Bill of Rights when the U.S. began heading in that direction. The only thing they want to know is HOW to implement the coercion so as to make it seem more palatable, and less likely to engender resistance. But the fact that they WILL deprive us of increasingly more and more liberty is a foregone conclusion.
They haven't already made the decision. They'll just ask for input, conveniently "misplacing" some of it, until the input leads to the decision that they want.
