Tobacco Prohibition 2.0: Banning Flavor

Today, the New York City city council voted 46 to 1 to ban/prohibit flavored tobacco products.  The ban does not include Menthol or Mint, like the FDA ‘Protect Your Family from Smokers’ bill, and it does not ban flavored pipe tobaccos - yet.

All of this is happening in the same city where the nanny-minded mayor changed the law so he could stay for a third term in office, banned indoor smoking, and is now trying to ban outdoor smoking in parks and beaches – because ‘children should not have to see smokers’.
 
Where are all of the infuriated people?  Where are Americans who value freedom? Individual Rights?  And not just the rights you use, but all individuals’ rights?

Within thirty minutes of this news breaking, I have witnessed emails, facebook, and twitter messages from industry members and not one of those messages had anything to do with the usurpation of our freedoms.  Topics did include: tonight’s featured bottle of wine to drink at home; something about farmville; a note about splurging on a ribeye steak because it’s ‘hump day’; a bejeweled score; what you are watching on TV or the internet; what you are smoking; what you are wearing for Halloween; what game you are watching tonight; who you are rooting for; and something about a golf tournament.

Sadly, many NYC tobacconists did not find out about the vote until the day before; so some of us are being rail-roaded and disenfranchised by the system.   But, the real problem is our own apathy and lethargy.  Where is the anger?  The vote was 46 to 1!

These prohibitions started with the FDA justifying a ban of cigarettes that have a ‘characterizing’ flavor that ‘can be attractive to children’.  Yet, this is the most bankrupt and illogical justification because IT IS ILLEGAL TO SELL TOBACCO TO CHILDREN.  So, that should be the focus – stop sales of tobacco to underage children!  It’s not rocket science; you don’t have to be a genius to figure it out.  The prohibition of products that are ‘attractive to children’ is the most insipid legislative trend I have ever seen in my lifetime; it is as bad as McCarthyism, Racism, anti-Semitism, and any other ‘ism’ which is based on an ideology of hatred and bigotry.

One hundred years ago men congregated in bars, pubs, and clubs to discuss matters of the day… at the time, most of them smoked.  Yet today, we are not allowed to congregate, smoke, and talk in the same place – except for the rare retail tobacconist.  And now the walls are crumbling around us….  The guiding principle behind the founding of America was ‘the individual pursuit of happiness’…. so it was.  What is the guiding principle behind America today?

Unfortunately, the path to freedom is wrought with challenges and sacrifice.  For starters, join the CRA, get Certified, and finally, get your head out of your arse and take half of the time you spend watching TV, sports, or shopping for crap, and start fighting for your freedoms.  Otherwise, all that is worth living for, the simple human pleasures, will be lost.

Guns, Tobacco, Fear & Control

 

    

“Where the rights of men are equal, every man must finally see the necessity of protecting the rights of others as the most effectual security for his own.”- Thomas Paine
Dissertation on First Principles of Government -1795

On a personal note…. I have one sister, twenty one years younger than me. This picture was taken two years ago in the D.R. – right about the time she told me a policeman came to her class, wearing his uniform, badge, and gun, to lecture the students about the dangers of tobacco. Of course the lesson was not un-biased or purely factual. Rather, it was about fear. They did not tell her ‘cigarettes can shorten your life or lead to illnesses’; they told her ‘tobacco and smoke are disgusting, immoral, and kill’. While I know that life kills, and fear can be an effective motivation for children, and teachers can exaggerate to make a point, to this day, I cannot fathom why a man with a gun is sent to schools to ‘teach’ and threaten children. Frankly, it has taken me two years to calm down enough just to write this piece…. In fact, a big part of the reason I started this blog two years ago was because I was so infuriated by my sister’s story and needed a place to voice my opinion and tell these tales. And, someone has to question how the anti-smoke people have influenced legislators to the point that they are employing our police to promote their agenda … WTF is happening?

I remember in high school a policeman came and lectured us about the dangers of drinking and driving: at least that made sense since the crime takes place on our roadways where innocent people can be hurt. But where is the crime in smoking? And why are the police talking to children about it? And why the gun?

On a positive note, my sister comes to my house and walks into my humidor just because she loves the smell. Thankfully, she is smart and free enough to think for herself; but, for how long? In Cuba they have signs everywhere insulting ‘capitalist pigs’ and the only people with guns are the cops and military; I suppose that is why my family came to this country. But, in America there are already advertisements insulting smokers (of all kinds), disparaging fat people, and basically equating anybody who is not ‘healthy’ or ‘normal’ as immoral or inadequate. Yet, I can’t watch TV for half an hour without seeing erectile pill commercials or advertisements for pharmaceuticals to make us all happy and fill us with ‘energy’.
 
Meanwhile, the hypocrisy of our legislators/government and the degradation of our rights is only getting worse…. Today I read an AP article about an Alabama Botanist who was arrested because the wildflowers on her property were a nuisance. People actually complained about the annoyance of flower aromas!!!
 
As the son of refugees, I cannot forget the value of freedom, and the need to defend it: that is why I am a Certified Tobacconist. And, I have put every resource at my disposal towards defending my profession and helping others do the same. Ironically, at this rate, I will end up a Certified ‘drug dealer’ in the nanny state’s eyes…. and so will my plant, coffee, alcohol, and food loving friends. That cop who terrorized my 10 year old sister may very well arrest me for smoking a cigar on the sidewalk one day. In the meantime, real drug dealers who peddle anti-depressants, anti-anxiety drugs, 5-hour energy drinks, and erection pills continue to live down the road from me in mansions I can’t even afford the taxes on. The America I love seems to exist only in my mind and heart now…. and within the four walls of every retail Tobacconist who is still allowed to smoke in their business and home. As I write this very personal blog, my last living grandparent lies on her death bed, incoherent and unaware that the America that embraced her inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness is not so different than the country she fled; in this rare case I think that ignorance is bliss. But, the rest of us have no excuse.
 
My point is not simply to vent here… it is two-fold:

1. to compel you, my fellow Tobacconists and citizens, to get Certified and project your credibility. Be Proactive! Don’t be apathetic. Don’t ever give up. First we must educate ourselves, and then we go about teaching others (Tobacconists Are Teachers).

  

2. to remind everyone else that real freedom involves protecting others’ rights, not just the rights you like and/or use.

Disclaimers: I have cop friends and customers who I love; I think guns are awesome – when they are not killing or intimidating people; I love plants and flowers and their aromas; I love my sister and family, no matter what they think or feel; I have lots of friends who take the legal drugs mentioned in this article; I believe smoking is a human archetype and delicacy which will always be and should be enjoyed by a significant percentage of the population; I don’t like the use of chemicals or additives in tobacco or food; I eat meat and fish; however you define ‘health’, it is useless without freedom – and legislating ‘health’ is simply a way to control people; I drive like an old lady, have never had a dui/dwi, and have not had a moving violation in my adult life (’knock on wood’); I am only superstitious, ‘just in case’; I think people who sky dive and bungee jump are crazy and I fully support their right to do it – just like I support any person’s right to think, say, and do anything they want as long as they do not infringe on another person’s ability to do the same – that’s American!

 

Jorge Armenteros, CMT

Delusional Lawmakers: "Attractive To Children"

  
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin

Yet another ridiculous law has been passed outlawing the existence of products which are “particularly attractive to children”. The AP reports that the Gov. John Baldacci of Maine signed legislation that outlaws the sale of lighters that are “Particularly Attractive To Children”. Sadly, the Governor seemed delighted to pass this ‘first of its kind’ law.

  

As I have said before, our legislators can make everything illegal under the guise of protecting children: fire, water, air, wind, etc…. Ultimately, the world is not safe for children, but that is what parents are for.

  

This legislation was prompted by a child who picked up a lighter and singed their facial hairs and/or face. If I had done this as a child, my parents would have told me, “that’s what you get for playing with fire” and then we would have moved on with our lives. The parents in this case thought otherwise: instead of teaching their child not to play with fire, they lobbied to make the fire illegal – we are living in interesting times!

  

This notion of “PARTICULARLY ATTRACTIVE TO CHILDREN” seems to be the latest legislative fad in the ‘Post-Smoking-Ban’ era of nanny governance. It is a smokescreen for legislators and politicians to revoke freedoms while pretending to protect the public. But I am arguing that the COST is too high.

  

“Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.” – Benjamin Franklin

  

” I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.” – Thomas Jefferson

  

While the times we live in call for BIG IDEAS & PRINCIPLED ACTION, we are bombarded with small thoughts, selfish acts, and short-term thinking by our legislators. We are surrounded by functionaries instead of visionaries. I will take personal comfort in the John Adams series on HBO this week and remember what heroic and honorable leadership was actually like.

  

*My Retail Tobacconist stores do not sell novelty lighters, since we are not novelty stores. But I do believe in that every American has the right to own, sell, or manufacture them if they choose to.

 

Jorge Armenteros, CMT

Odor Annoyance = Death, Imprisonment?

Last week was pretty absurd in the Congressional offices. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) called the Capitol Police to complain about Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) smoking a cigar in his office. Rep. Tancredo has been doing this for almost a decade, has several air cleaners, and every right to smoke in his private office…. for now. Apparently, Rep. Ellison felt the aroma of a lit cigar was a compelling enough reason to alert the police. Unbelievable! But true. This is what the anti-smoking fervor has come to on Capitol Hill. In some strange way, I am happy this happened so our legislators can feel the pain, castigation, restrictions, and humiliation that civilian connoisseurs feel every day.
 
Ultimately, this is not an issue about subjecting helpless people to noxious fumes or dangerous carcinogens. Rep. Ellison and the majority of our society feel a personal right to protect themselves from “Odor Annoyance”. Frankly, this idea is ridiculous. I can’t begin to estimate how many disgusting perfumes, ointments, and other smells I have been subjected to over the years. Once, I was on a plane flying out of Havana with a couple of dozen tourists from a specific country (ethnicity omitted in order to not offend) who smelled of fermented sweat and other disgusting, yet natural odors. The synergy of stink was nauseating. It was horrible, I wanted to vomit the whole trip, but I knew I had no right to tell others how often they should bathe.
 
The absolute worst Odor pet peeve of mine is Acetone. And every time my girlfriend opens that bottle to do her nails, I nearly begin to convulse. I get the same feeling when I walk into a beauty salon and smell the hair chemicals they use. I would not be surprised to find out years from now that Acetone and these “beauty” chemicals are responsible for increased birth defects, autism, or more stupidity in general.
 
Obviously we have no right to smell pretty things all the time. But where do we draw the line? Some towns and cities throughout our country have anti-smoking restrictions in place which keep people from smoking within 10 to 25 feet of any doorway. Yet a massive truck can park itself 7 feet from the front door of my Retail Tobacconists in Princeton and New Hope and exhaust themselves all day long. Many Americans are exposed to extreme levels of pollution coming from cars and trucks every day and on every road; yet smoking is the “Big Evil”.
 
Persecuting smokers is just a distraction from addressing more significant issues. There are so many chemicals and pollutants in our air, that the even the Surgeon General’s report on secondhand smoke admits that there are far too many other environmental factors, other than secondhand smoke, that are far too encompassing and present in today’s society that may cause a multitude of health issues and problems.

Jorge Armenteros, CMT

Double Helix Sensibility

I feel a little pressure to post some perfectly articulated intelligent thoughts, since people actually seem to be reading this blog… but then I’m reminded that this is a blog… So I don’t need to create a cohesive, bulletproof thesis on any particular issue. I’m also concerned that I’ll become one of those people that “rants and raves” on the Internet about the same thing, over, and over, and over, again. These two issues have converged for me today. And I can’t resist…
 
I was shocked and disturbed the other day when I heard a Senator in NY is trying to pass a bill which makes crossing the street while on the phone, or while wearing head phones, an illegal act. I could easily write thousands of words on this issue and the feel-good laws that continue to be passed in this country. But I won’t. Nor will I write a few thousand words about the knuckleheads in NJ that want to ban smoking in cars with children.
 
Today, I’m just keeping my fingers crossed so the Atlantic City Council will vote to allow casinos to reserve 25% of their floor space for smokers: sounds very democratic to me since at least 25% of the population smokes. I don’t know if I can handle the trauma of gambling my money away while NOT smoking a cigar.
 
Anyway…. I think James Watson, one of the four discoverers of the Double Helix structure of DNA, said it best:
 
“I don’t want to restrict anyone from doing anything unless it’s going to harm me. I don’t want to pass a law stopping someone from smoking. It’s just too dangerous. You lose the concept of a free society. Since we are genetically so diverse and our brains are so different, we’re going to have different aspirations. The things that will satisfy me won’t satisfy you.”
 
Thank You Mr. Watson, and God Bless the free society…wherever that is.