The timing, the structure,
did you hear, they fucked us
a day late, a buck short
they're writing the report...

the FDA is growing up

So, is the ATF gonna have to change their name to the AF?

Why not?? Regulation has worked sooooo well in the banking and food industries. I'm sure the government will have no problem protecting us from another hazardous product.

I am sure the ATF will still get to deal with efforts related to paying taxes and having the proper permission for production etc.

Or we could just legalize pot and put the ATF in charge of making sure it is taxes and grown under approved conditions and licenses. Then we can call them the AMF.

The reason now? Because they've sucked all the money our of the tobacco industry has to offer. Now, time to move on to .....

The irony is, it's mostly lower income people who smoke and are hardest hit by these taxes... and when they all quit because they cannot afford it, how are all these programs for the children's health care going to be paid?

I foresee a major uptick in cig bootleggers.

@dreamsneverend: I've always had the same thoughts regarding cig tax hikes. Some people work minimum wage, have a tough life, and one of the only things that helps them relax is smoking. Why punish them?

I don't agree that they'll all just up and quit, though. (But it would be nice)

@bohemian: And then we could all go bowling!

@bohemian: Just one question. Will each pack of spliffs come with a bag of chips attatched?

@WindySaturday_GitEmSteveDave: No no no. As Robin Williams said, "Paaaahhp Taaaaarts!"

@Mike8813:

While I applaud your statement that it would be nice if everyone would quit smoking I am offended at your "tough life" statement.

My mother died of lung cancer in 1976 because of her addiction to cigarettes. She got to spend less than two years with her first grandchild since she died two days before my daughters second birthday. She never got to see her grandson who was born 18 months later nor did she have a chance to see her great grandson who was born in 2003.

I consider what she lost and what my children and grandchild lost to be tougher than many other things.

She died because of the arrogance of the tobacco industry in their denial of what their illnesses product was believed to cause even though they had the proof.

I watched her waste away from her normal weight of around 100 pounds to less than 65 pounds before her death. I got the autopsy report that showed the cancer had metastasized to her liver, skin, one eye and her brain. THAT IS TOUGH!

Btw...my mother was only 48 years old when she died. THAT IS REALLY TOUGH!

I do some work in prisons every now and then, where a carton goes for $200. I used to think that was crazy before, now it doesn't seem all that outrageous.

But will this bill be available in Menthol?

I smoke. Why? Because I choose to. I know it's going to kill me, and I know I'm addicted. Am I going to quit though? Nope - and it's because _I don't want to_.

Do people seriously still believe that smoking isn't unhealthy? I don't believe that at all. Who is this supposed to help?

I think this will make electronic "cigarettes" more popular. They're not tobacco products so they are much cheaper and safer.

@Mike8813: Well the thing is smoking makes people more nervous ... the relaxing benefits of cigarettes are really a myth because after people start smoking it makes them more nervous normally and they just go back to a normal state while smoking. So cigarettes only calm down temporarily what they are causing. Cigarettes do give people some sort of comfort though because sucking on things in general gives people comfort because it mimics the sucking we did or didn't do when we were in our breast feeding period of childhood. People who weren't breast fed are 3 times as likely to become smokers .... my point with that is they could replace that with something else ... like hard candy or chewing gum , something far less dangerous and not offensive and damaging to others.

Cigarettes actually didn't go up for the consumer. Most of the tobacco companies actually LOWERED their prices by the same amount the Fed taxes went up. The only places they are still high is the backward ass states that have high state taxes. Thankfully, I am in Texas where their is no state taxes and my cigs still cost about $6.25 a pack.

I am going to quit though.....real soon. Not because of the price......just need to cut back on spending in these trying times.

@Mike8813:

No, they smoke because they are ADDICTED. Nicotine is physically addictive. Worse than heroin.

People on oxygen, dying of lung cancer or emphysema or other tobacco-related illnesses, will still smoke because they're addicted.

Chantix was expensive, but it worked. I figured I'd rather spend a hundred dollars a month for three months and then be done with it than keep dropping $50-60 a month for the rest of my short life on smokes.

I still want to smoke sometimes, but it's not a physical thing anymore and I can talk myself out of it. It's only been a year.

Btw, that picture is creepy.

This is creepy too.

Okay that's weird because that's not the original video; I don't know where that came from.

@dreamsneverend:

Children wouldn't need as much health care if they didn't get exposed to smoke. I've had life long asthma due to breathing in smoke as a child, and the tobacco industry was busy covering up the evidence that smoking causes health problems for so many years. Fortunately the truth was starting to come out when I was a kid and it got my father to quit.

Be wise, legalize!!! Regulate pot like you would ciggs and/or booze and you'll have a lot less people in court/jail or small minor pot offenses and make a few extra bucks in the process. Last I checked, pot didn't hurt like tobacco. With all the pot I used to smoke, I'm in perfect health compared to others who have been smoking tobacco.

@GiuliettaGanymede: I'm very sorry to hear what happened to your mother. Having said that, I don't see how implying that others may have a tough life would offend you. It is possible to have hard luck without being ill, as your mother unfortunately was.

Family problems, finance issues, etc. These are the ideas I had when suggesting that some may have "tough lives", and enjoy a cigarette. I meant no offense.

The FDA already gets away with murder.

Plus, how do you fit 500-600 ingredients on a label?

@Mike8813:

I am sorry that it appeared that I took it personally. What I wrote was certainly from my personal viewpoint but that wasn't what I was trying to convey. What I was trying to say is that while it might be hard on someone who has to pay more for their pack of smokes it doesn't necessarily compare to how tough it is, or would be, on their loved ones or themselves because of what smoking does to them.

Fucking Richard Burr. I can't stand that asshole.

@GiuliettaGanymede: Point taken!

Well played, Congress. Well played.

Hey, let's make a deal. The day you give me single payer, universal health care, the same health care that saves money and lives in all other rich nations in the world is the same day I quit smoking. Deal?

@GiuliettaGanymede: I know someone that jogged everyday, ate healthy. Never smoked, he died of a heart attack that was brought on by a virus attacking his heart at age 35.

@CharlieInSeattle:

My condolences to you on the loss of your friend. It is unfortunate that someone tries to do the right thing to stay healthy and still succumbs to an illness, accident etc. That does not change the fact that there are a large number of people who, by smoking, have shortened their lives by quite a bit and in doing so have brought as much sorrow to their friends and loved ones as was brought to the family and friends of the person you spoke of.

@HogwartsAlum: not everyone smokes becasue they are addicted. I have friends who smoke becasue they like the tasteof cigarettes (no idea why) and they quit for long periods of time (months) and then go back and smoke a pack, and done again. That is not nicotine making them do it.

And saying it is more addicting than heroine is just retarded.

@HogwartsAlum: I wish you good luck in your quest to stay away from cigarettes.

@North Antara: Exactly. My mom is almost 60, and there is no way she is going to quit. I don't blame her because addiction sucks, but now I'm going to worry even more that she's going to choose a pack of smokes over basic needs. After 40 years, she's just not going to quit.

@HogwartsAlum: Congrats! My wife quit when my employer (Dell) went tobacco-free and offered free medical support (patches, prescriptions, counseling, &c) to employees and insured family members trying to quit. That helped us with the costs, and of course should save the company in the long run.

This reminds me -- I need to congratulate her; of her previous attempts to quit (cold-turkey without external support), this is the first one to have held as long.

The list of ingredients ought to be interesting. I've heard that the only difference between most brands is the additional crap thrown onto the tobacco, and that much of it is nasty. I'm kind of going urban-legendy I concede.

@Kimaroo: The Dude does love to bowl.

I was in the house gallery when they were debating and voting on this one. One point brought up is won't these new duties stretch an already thin FDA who barely inspects enough stuff? If samonella outbreaks can happen now, what happens when money is stretched thinner?

@CharlieInSeattle: Yes, unfortunately, people do die young. No one's trying to say that not smoking would completely prevent early death.

Make smokers provide reliable ID to purchase cigarettes. Register purchases, such as for pseudoephedrine products. Allow denial of health coverage to any smoker under the age of 65 (who may have become addicted before the early 1960's warnings). Younger smokers chose to start, knowing it's dangerous and highly addictive. If they don't like having to pay for their own medical care, maybe they can get the tobacco companies to offer them a health plan.

I don't smoke and I hate the smell of smoke but even I find this as a bad thing. I never forced my views on others and I see this as a way people can force others to stop something they don't approve of. By the way this will hurt my area because Phillip Morris will lose business and I hate that proud Americans will lose their jobs because of fascism.

Good god, will they just ban tobacco already? Government's responsibility is to protect the people, well help them by forcing them to quit. Gives people more money to spend on other things, healthier population, farmers and other tobacco industry workers can be redistributed elsewhere.

Time for the government to start doing its job IMO.

@dreamsneverend:
No, if the tax is applied at the cigarette factory & the company has to pay the tax there, bootleggers would have to steal the cartons from the companies & they certainly wouldn't go for that!

Plus, if we eliminate smoking, we also cut down on fires caused by smoking.

@blash:

Unfortunately everything would end up being banned. Sugar, raw meat, caffeine, salt, anything and everything considered "unhealthy". That kind of control is something I fear everyday and when people like you start requesting it, the end is near! People have to be able to make their own decisions whether we like them or not....

@blash: Are you serious? You want the government to tell us what we can and can't do to that level?

I am at a total loss on how anyone could even think that's how the Constitution was meant to work.

@chadgottfried: But if you consume sugar, raw meat, caffeine, salt, etc., I don't get an increased risk of lung cancer.

@xtc46: It's not retarded. [www.nytimes.com]

Where are cigarettes over $9 a pack?

$9 must be the most expensive area of the USA, because around here camels used to be around $4.50, and now they are $6.50

@kurtisnelson: Increase staffing?