Monday, October 5, 2009

Things No One Else Is Talking About: Cloves Banned


WHAT THE FUCK? Are you kidding me? Why am I just now hearing about this?
Cloves are now banned in the US. [Kansas City Star]
Again the government is trying to tell us that we are too stupid to make our own life decisions. Well government, you're too stupid to not build up trillions of dollars in debt through mismanagement, overspending, and in general bad decisions.
I'll take my chances making my own decisions. The ban is not only on cloves, but all fruit and candy-flavored cigarettes and maybe even some flavored cigarillos. This seems like a small infringement because most people rarely buy cloves or other items affected by this ban, but the principle and the surprising backer of this legislation are what worry me. The principal of taking away/ infringing on our freedoms simply can not be tolerated any longer. Each freedom we are made to give up is another step toward living in shackles. One of the most shocking aspects of this story is Altria (Philip Morris) backed not only this piece of legislation, but the government's efforts to put tobacco regulation under FDA control entirely. I understand their short-term benefit. They plan next to push regulations against menthol cigarettes which will piss off a significant portion of the US population. Altria is attempting to gain the market share it has loss to menthol producers, namely Lorillard, who makes Newports. If menthols are banned Lorillard would almost certainly go out of business since 98% of their market is Newports, leaving Altria, who makes Marlboros, to sell non-menthol cigarettes with no menthol competition. That scenario would be a huge boon to Altria and RJ Renyolds, but the trend would continue toward banning all cigarettes, not just cloves and menthols. They are basically giving themselves cancer.
One day cloves will be the beginning of one of those poems that goes... First they came for _____ and we said nothing. Next they came for the __________ and we said nothing. Last they came for __________ and no one was left to defend it.

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