Tobacco O.K. -- If It Stinks

That's correct, the legislature of West Virginia is considering banning any tobacco that "tastes sweet." I only wish I could be making up such horrible, utterly useless functions of government. Part of the new, proposed, "law:"

The Legislature finds that the current general prohibition of selling tobacco products to children is an insufficient and ineffective means in which to address the problem. The Legislature, therefore, adopts a public policy that the importation, sale and distribution of candy and fruit-flavored cigarettes in this state cannot be tolerated.

In other words, the legislature is really saying,
We passed a law to try and stop you from having the freedom to smoke, but that wasn't enough. Since one law didn't force you all to stop doing what we, personally, do not like, we're going to pass another law, and for some reason, you'll all obey the SECOND law.

And no, these aren't new -- flavored cigarettes have been sold in WV for OVER 100 years. But now they're evil.

It's not clear how many different commissions and legislative panels will be set up to taste test all cigarettes that will be sold in the state to determine exactly which cigarettes taste too much like candy and fruit, and which ones taste bad enough to actually be sold in the state. So far, they're only actually limiting the NAME of the cigarettes, not the actual taste -- so they could see candy-flavored cigarettes, they just couldn't CALL them candy-flavored cigarettes.

Can someone please explain to me why we have government?

Posted by: Ogre at 02:05 PM

Comments

1 But Ogre, It's for the children.

Posted by: Tomslick at January 18, 2007 06:42 PM (NHjJJ)

2 But of course it is.

The candy, right?

Posted by: Ogre at January 18, 2007 07:55 PM (oifEm)

3 I remember trying lemon-flavored cigarettes about 20 years ago.

Just awful.

I can't imagine they'd be any better today. Some flavors just don't mix.

Now if they had a GUINNESS-flavored cigarette...

Posted by: Harvey at January 19, 2007 04:49 PM (L7a63)

4 Personally, I absolutely can't stand the taste of tobacco. I can't imagine anything being powerful enough to squash out that taste. Then again, I wonder how economically successful these could be -- if someone likes the taste of tobacco...

Posted by: Ogre at January 19, 2007 06:44 PM (oifEm)






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