FDA Tobacco Prohibition: Tobacco Control Act

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act will grant the FDA authority to regulate advertising, marketing & manufacturing of tobacco products, reduce federal tobacco tax receipts, require tobacco companies to disclose to the FDA the ingredients used in each tobacco product, as well as allow the FDA to require changes in current and future tobacco products by reducing the amount of nicotine and requiring health warnings to cover the top 50% of the front and back panel.

While I completely support the efforts to prevent tobacco related deaths and illness, I do not support the efforts to take away the public's rights to bad habits. They've raised cigarette taxes considerably in the past few months, and most smokers are aware of the health issues that can arise from the use of tobacco, but so far these efforts have not proven to be very effective. Yes, smoking is a horrible habit, but people do have a right to the purchase and use of tobacco. And to be quite honest, if smokers are more or less forced into quitting, let's face reality, we are going to have more angry people in this country than we care to deal with. The raise in cigarette taxes alone has made impact, but not in the way it was intended. I'm not seeing anymore people quitting their habits than I had expected, but I am seeing more and more people slip further into a hole. These people are spending a considerate amount more on tobacco than they were before, and due to their inability, or lack of determination to quit-whichever the case may be- they are putting bills aside, or just not having the money needed to pay them because they're investing nearly twice the amount in cigarettes and tobacco as they were just a few months ago. I'm seeing people sell treasured items of theirs, because they need money to buy cigarettes, or to pay the bills they fell behind on because of their tobacco purchases.

Now maybe I've got this all wrong here, but while tobacco use is far more dangerous to health than most habits, it is still a habit that we have a right to, and I really don't see it as being any different than if the FDA were to become allowed to regulate the caffeine or purchase of Starbucks coffee. We would be overwhelmed by the sudden amount of angry, energy deficient, sleep deprived people from that as we are surely going to see if this bill is signed off by President Obama. People may or may not approve of the bill, but it doesn't change the fact that the general public does have the right to their own personal habits, and I don't see it as being right that the FDA is trying to control this.

If you take a look behind the scenes, smokers are not the only people who are going to be affected by this bill. What about all of the farmers who make their living, and support their families by growing and manufacturing tobacco? How many of them are going to be in a severe income crisis if their primary source is being controlled and inspected by the FDA?

I'm not going to sit here and say that I believe it is healthy and okay for people to use tobacco, but I do believe that in every way, shape, and form, it's a direct violation of rights for anyone to have their choice of habit controlled, whether it be tobacco use, consumption of coffee, television programming, or anything else. For us to all live in such a "free" country, every day we're seeing more and more of our rights taken away, and I, for one, am beginning to feel more like a puppet than a human being.

Sources
Website: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Family_Smoking_Prevention_and_Tobacco_Control_Act_(H.R._1108)_2007