Nanny State FDA Wants To Kill The Cigar Trade

[UltraVires]

@John_Mace

Walk-in humidors are generally not for smoking. They’re for look at cigars, and picking out the one you want. If the feds banned smoking in walk-in humidors, it might piss a few people off, but it wouldn’t change much of anything. The OP is claiming that the feds want to ban walk-in humidors. That’s entirely different from banning smoking in walk-in humidors. And besides, there isn’t any need for an employee even to be in the humidor other than for security reasons. Cameras can do that.

I was confused by this:

[QUOTE=The OP]
I don’t smoke a lot but enjoy a good cigar, and the shops are almost uniformly staffed by friendly, knowledgeable guys who are happy to welcome you to browse the cigars and join the regulars for a smoke.
[/QUOTE]

emphasis added. I imagined the friendly neighborhood cigar shop with guys in the humidor talking and puffing away.

[emulsified]

@cckerberos

Just to be clear here, the FDA has banned any flavored tobacco (except menthol) so it goes far beyond just “candy-flavored”. I’m not a smoker but occasionally liked to have a clove cigarette because of the taste. That’s no longer possible.

Just FYI, and I sort of wish I didn’t know this, you can still get clove cigarettes in a smoke shop. Those clever big tobacco people just decided to call them “cigars” and sell them 12 in a pack. They still have filters, they look exactly like clove cigarettes, they just underwent a name change so they could sneak past the border.

[Janetda]

From what I’ve read, the possible restrictions could include walk in humidors. Apparently they are looking at the Canadian model. Perhaps on of our Canadian Dopers would like to tell us how cigars are sold there.

[John_Mace]

@jtgain

I was confused by this:

emphasis added. I imagined the friendly neighborhood cigar shop with guys in the humidor talking and puffing away.

Outside the humidor. I suppose some shops might allow smoking in the humidor, but that’s kind of like allowing smoking in an elevator. The humidor is generally a pretty small, confined space.

[Jas09]

@Janetda

I don’t get what the confusion is here. If the FDA regulates cigars the same as cigarettes then humidors will be outlawed as they are considered self-serve displays. You will not be able to touch or smell a cigar before you purchase it from behind a counter.

@Janetda

From what I’ve read, the possible restrictions could include walk in humidors. Apparently they are looking at the Canadian model. Perhaps on of our Canadian Dopers would like to tell us how cigars are sold there.

I don’t think the bolded parts disagree with what anybody in this thread is saying. All I’m saying is that the current regulations do no such thing, and alarmism doesn’t help the discussion.

[Janetda]

I don’t think it’s really alarmist. The FDA has published it’s intent to consider cigars and other “tobacco products” subject to regulation under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Unless they make a specific exception (which no one has indicated they will) it will include self-service type displays, which a humidor could be considered.

View Rule

This proposed rule would deem products meeting the statutory definition of “tobacco product” found at section 201(rr) of the FD&C Act to be subject to FDA’s jurisdiction. The scope of the proposed rule deeming cigars to be subject to FDA’s jurisdiction that was previously included in the Unified Agenda is being broadened to encompass products that meet the statutory definition of “tobacco product.”

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm252360.htm

The Agency intends to propose a regulation that would extend the Agency’s “tobacco product” authorities in Chapter IX of the FD&C Act, which currently only apply to certain specifically enumerated “tobacco products,” to other categories of tobacco products that meet the statutory definition of “tobacco product” in Section 201(rr) of the Act. The additional tobacco product categories would be subject to general controls, such as registration, product listing, ingredient listing, good manufacturing practice requirements, user fees for certain products, and the adulteration and misbranding provisions, as well as to the premarket review requirements for “new tobacco products” and “modified risk tobacco products.”

[John_Mace]

@Janetda

I don’t think it’s really alarmist. The FDA has published it’s intent to consider cigars and other “tobacco products” subject to regulation under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Unless they make a specific exception (which no one has indicated they will) it will include self-service type displays, which a humidor could be considered.

View Rule

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm252360.htm

Not really. Note that the restriction on cigarettes is:

Restrict vending machines and self-service displays to adult-only facilities

Emphasis added.

It’s not like there are walk-in humidors in WalMart or Safeway. This just takes cigarette packs off the shelves of stores that minors have access to. While this might not be universal, the only walk-in humidors I’ve ever seen are in Cigar shops or bars.

[Janetda]

I don’t think most cigar stores are actually age restricted. They could make them that way though. Also, in some states, cigarette machines are illegal no matter the venue. Will these states include humidors in these laws if the FDA considers deems humidors self-serve displays, who knows. The larger point here is that the FDA will be regulating cigars (and small cigars, large cigars, pipe tobacco, hookah/shisha tobacco, dissolvable tobacco/nicotine products) in the same way they regulate cigarettes.