The latest example of the government nanny state. E-Cigarettes.

One of the greatest open lies government, at all levels, perpetrates is they want people to stop smoking tobacco products. If they were serious about that they would ban the substance. However, they tax it for the children, specifically for children's health care programs. But it's a steady steam of cash to the public coffers for politicians to spend. People are addicted to nicotine so they will pay.

A few years ago the Electronic Cigarette, also known as the E-Cig came on the market and has gained great acceptance. Personally I know a good friend who used them to stop a 1-3 pack a day cigarette habit, plus someone at work who is using them to ween himself off of the nicotine.

Now some usual suspects would seem to like this. But we all know that they don't because of the usual reason, money. Now we have this news, thanks to Hot Air.

The next ban… e-cigarettes

As we all know, the government is very interested and actively engaged in stopping people from smoking cigarettes. (Insert pause here.)

Okay… now that I’ve given you all time to stop laughing, we can give a brief nod to the fact that government at all levels in the United States has virtually zero interest in stopping people from smoking. They have a vast, vested interest in looking like they disapprove of smoking, while keeping it legal and taxing the living heck out of it at every level. This leads to all manner of economic and law enforcement problems, but still manages to stack a few extra coins in their coffers and avoids the embarrassing problem of having tens of thousands of additional people suddenly out of work.

But a deal was cut at one point – more on that below – which might allow manufacturers to transition to other tobacco based products which were not smoked, This led to the e-cigarette. (Disclosure: I’ve never tried this product.) But it looks like the government wants to shut this menace down as well.

As the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] is poised to issue new rules governing e-cigarettes, a new study has found some 22 potentially dangerous chemical elements in the vapor given off or inhaled.

These include many metallic particles – including 3 on the FDA’s “harmful and potentially harmful chemicals” list [lead, nickel, and chromium] – with the concentrations of 9 “higher than or equal to the corresponding concentrations in conventional cigarette smoke,” notes public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who has been called “the law professor who masterminded litigation against the tobacco industry.”

That’s bad news for people in the industry who thought that the government would give them a bit of running room to make such a shift, as reported by Forbes.

Several years ago, the federal government entered into a Faustian bargain with the tobacco industry — and the cigarette makers with the government. It was legislation borne of mutual antipathy.

Under the scheme, Washington brought the tobacco industry under the thumb of federal regulation. FDA now oversees everything from the way cigarettes are marketed, to the manner in which they are made. In exchange, the tobacco industry was promised a regulatory track out of their current (declining) business model…

It always seemed a naïve aspiration — that FDA would ever sanction such products – and even more uncertain that the anti-tobacco crowd would let this paradigm advance. Now, each side’s ambitions (and the law’s spirit) are being tested.

In short, the government is looking to ban – or at least heavily restrict – the use of these new e-cigarettes which deliver the drug (nicotine) without all the other harmful trash generally associated with the burning plant fiber bi-products. Social engineers the world over are already on board with this plan, including schemes at the World Health Organization to try to ban – or more likely tax heavily – it at an international level.

I’m sure there is a point to be made about any smokeless tobacco product being sold to children, but what about adults? I suppose the assumption here is that e-cigarettes might just be an unholy plan to addict non-smokers to nicotine and lure them into smoked products, but in the end that just winds up generating more tax revenue. So where is the profit motive for the government in this one?

Have any of you actually tried one of these electronic cigarettes? The practice doesn’t involve spitting like chew or wads in the cheek like other packaged products. Should the government be wading into this?

With all respect the profit motive is obvious. The feds, through the FDA are moving into this because cigarettes are taxed at a relatively huge rate, including specific federal taxes. E-cigs, however, are only taxed at the rate for any other consumer product and the taxes do not go to Washington but to state and local coffers. So the feds will not ban them, only regulate and tax them, for the children.

Personally I've evolved in my view of smoking over my life. As a younger man I was a militant anti-smoker, thinking it was one of the more stupid vices. However, over the years I have started to use it myself. I've only tried a cigarette once around ten years of age (probably the reason I didn't pick up the habit like the rest of the family) but in my late 20s I tried cigars. I now smoke a weekly (end of the work week, something to unwind with) cigar and an occasional pipe. As time has gone on I've become more libertarian on the use of tobacco, among other issues.

A few years ago the Houston City Council passed an ordinance forbidding smoking in restaurants and bars. Again, government overreach. If a restaurant owner wants to allow smoking in all, part or none of his business that is no one's decision but his. If a consumer want to dine at a restaurant that does (or does not) allow smoking, that is their business.

I finish this post as I also finish an excellent Rocky Patel Cameroon with some great conversation over coffee with my lovely wife Beth, our great neighbor Bill and our loving son Elmer the wonder dog. Hope you had a great weekend and here's to a great week!