re: #246 MandyManners

Are you saying that this will afffect ALL cigarettes and not just the ones listed in the article?

It is the nature of any regulatory regime to expand to include all instances and cases even remotely similar. I fear very much that what starts out as an effort to suppress Grape-flavored cigarillos will end in the outlawing of the retail sale of tobacco in any smokeable form.

Consider the efforts, for years, to get cigarette companies to release their formulas for sauces and such. What was behind it? The desire to portray the effort to meet customer needs for a consistent smoke with good burn, decent flavor, and predictable satisfaction of the nicotine habit as a nefarious attempt to “dose” or boost the addictiveness of the product.

A similar effort was undertaken in the 20’s and 30’s with copenhagen snuff, with all manner of wild claims made as to its composition and such. Why didn’t the company dispel the rumors by releasing the formula? Because the formula was the product; without their exclusive secret, everyone could make a comparable snuff, and then they’re out of business.

Anti-tobacco literature from the 19th century accused tobacconists and others of drugging cigarettes with opium and all manner of narcotics and stimulants. These stories were widely beleived, because the tobacco companies could not afford to part with their recipes and processes, which cost them big bucks to develop and which were their only competitive advantage.