Hey, did ya hear? Hilary came out yesterday at the Lance Armstrong Cancer Forum and stated that the Fed should control TOBACCO under the FDA. Seems like the big plan is something like this: prohibit tobacco everywhere, then, after we've established smokers as an underclass, put enough of your tax dollars into cancer research and health care that it becomes Uncle Sugar's business. Wham! FDA regulations to take it out of your hands (though I imagine Philip Morris will still sell it in China!)
Soon, we can all be growing tobacco under sodium halide lights in the basement.
And serving time at Club Fed for doing the same thing Bill did to Monica.
JR (a reformed smoker)
The FDA would put their gubberment stamp on it for the $ bucks, only. Soon as the money got in some research account, it'd be lost to that great Politician deep-throat heaven. I mean, lined-pocket heaven, sorry. The FDA can't even protect us from being poisoned from contaminates and disease, so they're gonna watch over big tobacco. Huh.
In most parts of the country, the gubberment's already into tobacco for the money, in the form of state taxes, sin taxes, interstate taxes, whatever.
Hilary is proposing that the Federal gubberment regulate tobacco under the auspices of the FDA, which is to say, like a drug (not an agricultural product).
This is an end-run around convention, social norms, civil liberty, and bodes, in my opinion, nothing good. I mean, FDA can't test certain herbal remedies because they contain too many different alkaloids. The result: you get to go to Canada to get your dietary supplements and traditional medicines. Uncle Sugar sure'nuff gonna say tobacco is 'too complex' to allow human grown-ups access to it, without maybe a prescription.
While I don't know any responsible adult who will advocate that tobacco use is desirable and a good thing, my gut is that this should be the kind of thing responsible adults are concerned with, not servants of the people. I don't know any responsible adults who advocate an unjust and illegal war in the Middle east, but Hilary did.
JR