F-D-Absurdity: Electronic Cigarettes

On Wednesday July, 22 the FDA held a press conference which essentially banned e-cigarettes (definition) and tried to spin the information (as opposed to scientific data) so it seems like they are as bad as cigarettes. Dr. Michael Siegel does a great job of outlining the lunacy of the FDA's position in his article: FDA Lunacy: Product We Know Will Kill 400,000 People This Year - Approved; Product that May Well Help Prevent Many of Those People from Dying: Banned.

Clearly, the FDA, lung and cancer associations, pharmaceutical industry, and anti-smoking groups hate the thought of e-cigarettes. It seems they abhor the thought and/or act of smoking more than the negative health effects. Perhaps the thought that people actually enjoy nicotine or sensory pleasures is unbearable to the nanny state and pleasure police so they must vilify any act that resembles smoking anything.

The horrible irony is that there are nicotine replacement therapies (nrt) whose side effects are SUICIDE, yet they are just fine by the FDA and the pharmaceutical companies that sell them; as well as the lung and cancer lobbies/associations (there are too many to name them all so please allow the generalization).

We all know that cigarette smoking is the most unhealthy of all our freedoms... and it will remain that way... unless they make them illegal or allow a product that will shorten the lives of 500,000 people per year (as opposed to the supposed 400k who die prematurely from cigarette smoking). But, in a free and healthy society people must be able to take educated risks and live their lives as they please without infringing on the freedoms of others.

There will always be a "WORST" or "MOST UNHEALTHY" freedom/lifestyle choice/personal preference/activity/taste. And that should be OK. Society does not need to continually beat up and/or prohibit 'the worst' freedoms; a healthy society will just accept them and educate the population. Otherwise, the most dangerous threat to freedom is the continual legislation and pursuit of health and safety.

In the end, I don't believe that 'Greed Is Good' (to quote Wall Street's Gordon Gecko)... But RISK IS GOOD - as determined by the individual, for the individual. Risk is necessary to move civilization, technology, and individuals forward. Risk is the foundation of the pursuit of happiness - the fundamental premise behind The United States of America. Risk is good.

PS:

Dear FDA,

Please relax, smoke a cigar, and remember that WITHOUT FREEDOM OF CHOICE AND RISK THERE IS NO REWARD OR PROGRESS. Clearly you understand that when allowing the sale of pharmaceuticals whose side effects include suicide, depression, heart attacks, etc... FREE TOBACCO. LET THE FARMERS LET THE PLANTS CONTROL THE NICOTINE. And leave my coffee, alcohol, and chocolate alone too.

The Hard Truth

Rostros Anonadado (Bewildered/Stunned Faces) by Eduardo Expósito

As a retail tobacconist, I can unequivocally state that the last ten years have been difficult (dramatic understatement). The challenges we face are unlike any other business persons' or industry (i.e. FDA, S-CHIP, OTP, smoking-bans, tobacco de-normalization, etc...). And, if you think the last ten years have been bad... what do you think the next ten will be like?

If we don't make dramatic changes to our industry and culture, our future will be exponentially worse! This is the hard truth. While marketers, manufacturers, salespeople, and retailers tell you 'business is good', that is either a lie or tunnel vision. Business people must 'spin' positivity because negativity does not improve sales. But, just because you make money this year does not mean 'business is good'. A viable industry/business-model needs to be sustainable; we must be able to plan ahead for things like retirements, recessions, childrens' educations, growth, asset preservation, business sales, etc...

One of the worst trends that has infected our industry and political climate is the 'grandfathering' of existing tobacconists and cigar bars without allowing the creation of new ones. Yet, whenever these laws pass, our industry claims a victory because we preserved a 'business'. But we also put a nail in our coffin if no one can open a new business!

Yet another sad sign that we are in trouble is the inconspicuous nature of our customers. One of my oldest and dearest friends/customers who has a passion for cigars hides this from his own children; he takes a 'fabreeze' shower before going home and swears to his kids that he does not 'smoke'. Partly, this is because children are thoroughly indoctrinated in school that 'smoking kills' and they do not distinguish between types and frequency of tobacco use. On a similar note, I am still irate, years after a policeman went to my little sister's school, in full uniform with a badge and gun, and gave an hour long lecture about how 'smoking kills' - still no distinguishing between types of smoking and the value of human freedom and personal choice. Plus, what is a policeman doing lecturing kids about smoking?

So, without writing a book here.... I would like to end on a positive note... since I have devoted myself and resources to the preservation of the luxury tobacco industry and retail tobacconists. I am not a negativist! Our path to salvation will not be easy. First, we must join and support the CRA in order to fight the short term battles and legislative momentum. Next, we must get Certified, and project our credibility!!! But, when we say 'project our credibility', we do not mean sit around with other cigar/pipe smokers and talk about how good or knowledgeable we are! Projecting our credibility is about making non-smokers, friends and family, and the society we live in understand and RESPECT our profession, passions and choices! Make converts out of non-aficionados! If every cigar and pipe smoker convinced 10 people to respect our rights, then we would still have our rights!

Final Note: Part of the TU Mission is to "research, learn, and teach in order to educate ..." and our Vision is to "build and project the credibility of the luxury tobacco industry in order to gain cultural acceptance around the world..." With that said, we are not beholden to any person or business. We are an independent educational institution with a clear mandate to speak the truth: the truth as we see it - not the 'truth' as devised or spun by marketers or business people. We receive no money from the IPCPR and our Sponsor(s) know that they are funding free education and certification without infringing on our Vision and Mission: perhaps, this is why we only have one sponsor. But, you can rest assured that TU will continue to research, learn, and teach while delivering the truth and working to build the credibility we will need to survive... for generations to come. Ultimately, we will only be successful if you and the rest of the industry participate. So, what are you doing to ensure the survival of the luxury tobacco industry?

Einstein Smoked!

Yes, it's true, Einstein smoked: pipes and cigars.

Albert Einstein's contributions to modern science are so extraordinary that it may take generations and hundreds of years for science to catch up with his theories on space, time, gravity, light, physics, etc... Ironically, Einstein had speech problems as a child and was probably missing portions of his brain, while other parts seem to have 'compensated' and given him extraordinary thinking, visualization, and conceptualization abilities. In fact, we are all a little bit like Albert Einstein in that our brains have different strengths and weaknesses and there are many different ways to be 'smart'. Intelligence takes on many different forms and varietals.

Albert Einstein, Berlin, Germany 1931. Photo from Fortune Magazine March 6, 2000.

Albert Einstein claimed that he thought through images, rather than verbally. That is why he spent much of his time ruminating, meditating, thinking, and walking the grounds of the Institute for Advanced Study and Princeton University, with a pipe or cigar in hand, of course.

As the proprietor of the retail tobacconist in Princeton, NJ, I like to think that Albert Einstein would be a customer if he were around today. After all, many of Princeton's esteemed intellectuals and luminaries are my customers, and they love their luxury tobacco. But this is not just a 'puff' piece about smart people smoking tobacco. Luxury tobacco is something we use out of choice, not addiction. Furthermore, we smoke great cigars and pipe tobaccos to savor our time, ruminate, decompress, gather our thoughts and emotions, and revitalize ourselves, among other reasons.

Just as our 'brains' are different, so are the things that bring us pleasure, happiness, joy, and peace. America's founding fathers recognized the inherent importance of individualism and freedom, so they anchored our country's constitution and values on the 'individual pursuit of happiness' and human freedom. For better or worse, good, bad or indifferent, human beings must be free to choose their own destiny and guide their own lives.

What would Albert Einstein think about S-CHIP, FDA tobacco regulation, extreme tobacco taxation, smoker demonization, smoking bans, and tobacco denormalization? Where would civilization be without Albert Einstein's genius? Who or what power has the legitimate authority to tell him (or us) how to think? What to enjoy? After all, we hold the truth of human freedom and equality to be self-evident.

The greatest tragedy to result from smokerism and anti-smoking laws will never be known. The greatest cost from impeding human freedom is the opportunity cost: those things, ideas, moments, realizations, and appreciations that will never exist, because the opportunity was lost. But these losses, while intangible, are as real as light, gravity, and time. Ultimately, every law that restricts individual freedom and choice retards our culture and undermines real progress and quality of life.

The Junk Science of Tobacco Control

Dr. Michael Siegel wrote a great article last week titled:

IN MY VIEW: Why Has the Science in Tobacco Control Deteriorated So Much?
Because the Tobacco Industry Has Relinquished its Watchdog Role.

Around the year 2000, as smoking ban laws gained momentum, 'big tobacco' (the only people with the resources to fight) seemed to stop challenging any of the extreme, ridiculous, and unfounded propaganda released by the anti-smoking and tobacco control movement. So, for almost a decade we have been bombarded by exaggerated claims, fear mongering, and extreme taxation and legislation furthering the goals of tobacco de-normalization.

I will leave the commentary and analysis up to Dr. Siegel... but I would agree with his assessment that the tobacco control industry has run amok and there is no one (substantively) standing in their way. Just yesterday I saw a nicotine gum advertisement where they encourage people not to stop smoking cigarettes 'cold turkey', even though this is the most successful method. Instead, they encourage you to use the nicotine gum and tell you you will have 'a higher success rate'; while in tiny print on the bottom of the screen it says 'over a placebo'.... Meanwhile, the image of the cold turkey quitter is of him walking off a cliff/building... as if he is committing suicide by quitting 'cold turkey'... Someone/thing needs to keep big pharma in check and who better than big tobacco?

National Nestor Miranda Cigar Day: Friday June, 12

Miami Cigar & Co. and Nestor Miranda will be celebrating their 20th Anniversary on Friday June 12th at over 500 retail tobacconists across America. Any customer who purchases ANY cigar at a participating tobacconist will receive ONE Nestor Miranda Special Selection Danno 20th Aniversario cigar for free; as a token of Miami Cigar & Co.’s appreciation and their commitment to consumers and tobacconists. This could be the biggest and best giveaway our industry has ever seen! And it could not come from a more extraordinary group of people and company.

Miami Cigar & Co. is the world’s only fully certified salesforce of CST. Both their in-house staff, salesforce, and Nestor Miranda himself are all TU Certified Tobacconists. Their leadership, generosity, and commitment to consumers and tobacconists is unparalleled in this industry.
You can visit Nestor Miranda Cigars to find a participating retail tobacconist.

In my continuing efforts to be brief, I will refrain from writing a book here… but I would like to add that there are few companies or people with the character and integrity of the Miranda family and Miami Cigar & Co. All you have to do is google Nestor and/or Miami Cigar & Co. or read through the Cigar Aficionado archives to learn what character and perseverance are all about. Congratulations to them on 20 years of excellence… we are looking forward to the next 20!

Voice of Freedom

# 53
2009-05-20 15:00:42
Tomasch, Nathan

"As a proud member of a nation founded upon freedoms that once were the envy of all other nations, I am distraught over the over-reach of current tobacco laws. Regulation of the sale and use of a legal product should be minimal and logical and it is my perception that the current taxation and penalty conducted in regards to tobacco usage is skewed and unevenly discriminatory towards the tobacco smoker. The details can be discussed later. At hand now is the final bastion of tobacco use that isn't marred by a false sense of shame and guilt; the tobacconist's. Surely consumption of tobacco at an establishment catering to such would seem self-evident! Any attempt to cease the legal and adult consumption of tobacco at a tobacconist's will be met by fierce protest and resistance. Even us smokers, self-apologetic and crippled by law, will not tolerate this final offense to our civil liberties and legal choice."

I think this comment says it best... posted here with permission from Mr. Tomasch. Sign the TPA.

Cigar Culture Wars

This week Cigar Rights of America (CRA) reported that the Cancer Action Network (lobbyists for American Cancer Society*) are about to spend $3 million dollars over the next few months to lobby the administration and Congress to increase taxes on cigars and other tobacco products. Absurdly, this is happening just weeks after the S-CHIP tobacco tax increases that will fund health care for people making under $80,000 per year. The Campaign for Tobacco Free kids noted, "There is plenty of room to go [for taxes] for cigars and smokeless."

You must see by now that tobacco taxation is not really about using the money to recoup societal costs incurred by smokers. Sadly, it is estimated that only 5% of tobacco tax money is used for health care, cigarette cessation and education programs! Clearly, this level of extreme taxation is a punitive measure used to penalize a minority of people who do not conform to 'dictated' norms. In fact, the de-normalization of smokers is nearly complete as in California it is almost illegal to smoke outdoors on public sidewalks. And the hysteria and lies regarding second hand smoke has people believing smokers are dangerous and dirty people. Yet, any open-minded person who has ever read beyond the first page of the Surgeon's General report on ETS must find smoking bans perplexing and unjustified.

Sadly, tobacco taxes and smoking bans will continue to increase because they are politically expedient. Over the last two decades our economic, political, scientific, and ideological arguments have failed to preserve individual, business owner, and tobacco user rights. Just take a look at how many republicans vote for smoking bans, declining rates of return on increased taxation, and the fact that smoking rates are relatively flat.

The increased persecution and taxation of tobacco users defies logic. It is about ideology. This is a cultural war against a certain 'kind' of people. And apparently, I am one of those people. Yet, cigar smokers only represent about 5% of the population - we are a bonafide underdog. That means each of us will need to convince at least 11 people to respect and support our freedoms, just to survive. In addition, as cigar and pipe smokers, we must proactively support the CRA as they are our infantry which battles the local, state, and federal government on a daily basis.

However, winning political battles will not be enough either. The anti-smoking movement is funded and organized beyond reason and comparison to any other political farce (sp?). They have waged a cultural war and we must meet them with commensurate force. The only force capable of resisting this movement is the value of freedom, inherent to being American. And the only way to change the culture is through education. So, Tobacconist University continues to build and project the credibility of our industry - endeavoring to preserve luxury tobacco for generations to come. There is a lot of work to be done and we must start yesteryear. Please join the CRA, convince 11 people to respect you, and get educated - sign the TPA, share & communicate, and learn something.

* Yes, it's true, American cancer has a society and lobbyists. And if they have their way, all of the delicious carcinogens and smoke surrounding this steak will eventually be taxed, controlled, and eliminated as well.