LSU Football Celebrates Championship With Cigars Despite Cops Trying to Stop Them

 

(Cigar Aficionado) The top-ranked LSU Tigers completed an impressive season last night, defeating the Clemson Tigers 42-25 to capture the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship. What’s the best way to celebrate such a historic win? With cigars, of course.
In a social media post shared by the LSU football program on both its Instagram and Twitter, Heisman Trophy winning star quarterback Joe Burrow lit up a victory cigar right after throwing for a national title game record 463 yards and five touchdown passes.
The team also joined in the cigar celebration festivities by lighting up cigars of their own. Continued

FDA: Not Enforcing Tobacco 21 Yet

"Draws Easy"

(Halfwheel) The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has clarified its position on a new federal that bans those under 21-years-old from purchasing tobacco products.
While the law was signed on Dec. 20, 2019, there was a dispute about when the new law went into effect and what the agency could enforce.
The agency posted a clarification on its website today, in short, it’s illegal for anyone to sell tobacco products or e-cigarettes to anyone under 21, but the agency is currently only enforcing a minimum standard of the age of 18 during a “transition.” Continued

Trump Administration Cracks Down On Some Flavored Vaping Products

 

(NPR) The Trump administration announced it will crack down on certain vaping products containing fruit, mint and other e-cigarette flavors to keep them away from kids. Manufacturers will have 30 days to take these products off the market before the Food and Drug Administration can take enforcement action. Continued

Also: U-Haul’s Anti-Nicotine Hiring Policy Is Draconian

FDA: Federal Tobacco 21 Law Is Now in Effect

Café Press

(CSN) SILVER SPRING, Md. - Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has six months to finalize the federal Tobacco 21 law, the agency announced it is now illegal for retailers to sell any tobacco product to consumers under 21 years old. Continued

Anti-Smoking Bill That Would Ban Catalog and Internet Sales of Tobacco Passes Subcommittee

(Cigar Aficionado) Today in Washington, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee passed H.R. 2339, a legislative bill that, if passed into law, would ban all catalog and internet sales for tobacco products, including premium cigars.

Also known as the “Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act,” H.R. 2339 is aimed at the vaping and cigarette industry, yet premium cigars have been lumped into the language of the legislation. The bill unambiguously states that all tobacco purchases, including premium cigars, would require “retail sales through a direct, face-to-face exchange between a retailer and a consumer.” Continued

Adieu, vaarwel, goodbye café De Waagschaal

The edict of William the Testy

(Dutch Pipe Smoker) Adieu, vaarwel, goodbye café De Waagschaal… For years your smoking room was the last refuge for the smoker in the region I live in. Myself and other pipe smokers had so many great and cosy meetings there over the years. Also I just liked to sit there alone with a good cigar/pipe, read a book, have a cup of coffee and look at the people outside walking over De Brink (the central square in Deventer). Continued

Vegan Sues Neighbors for Barbecuing in Their Own Backyard Because She 'Can't Go Out There'

 

(Time) … While Carden claims all she “wanted…is to live my life in peace,” the lawsuit she filed also alleged that it was [more] than just the smell of grilling fish that was disturbing her. She also took issue with cigarette smoke in their garden, because the fumes waft over into her yard. She is also frustrated by the sound of the neighbors’ children playing basketball and making noise in the yard. The legal saga has dragged on since August 2017, according to The Guardian. Continued

FDA Proposes New Required Health Warnings for Cigarette Packages, Advertisements

(CSD) The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposed rule to require new health warnings on cigarette packages and in advertisements.
“The proposed warnings, which feature photo-realistic color images depicting some of the lesser-known, but serious health risks of cigarette smoking, stand to represent the most significant change to cigarette labels in more than 35 years,” the FDA said. Continued

Outlaw: No more Tobacco Videos...

Facebook and Instagram Updates Policy to Restrict Tobacco Content

 

(Tobacco Business) If you’re a tobacco manufacturer, retailer or consumer, be aware–Facebook and Instagram is changing its policies to make it harder to promote and post certain content related to tobacco products going forward.
On Wednesday, CNN broke the news that Facebook was unveiling a new policy that would prohibit all private sales, trades, transfers and gifting of tobacco and alcohol products on Facebook and Instagram. Continued

Unfathomable Pinheadery: FDA Launches TV Ads to Discourage Teen Vaping

Illustration by
Shawn McGuan

(CSN) The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released its first TV ads aimed at preventing e-cigarette use among young consumers.

The effort is part of the FDA’s “The Real Cost” youth e-cigarette prevention campaign, a $60 million initiative that launched in 2018 through social media, digital content and posters at high schools nationwide. Continued  

The world’s busiest airport is about to ban smoking as places to light up get harder to find

 

(CNBC) Salt Lake City International Airport did it in 2016. Denver International Airport did it in 2018.
And, thanks to a new, enhanced ordinance in Atlanta banning smoking and vaping in bars, restaurants and other enclosed public spaces, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which has held the title of world’s busiest airport for many years, will snuff out its smoking lounges on Jan. 2, 2020. Continued

Puritanism

"Puritanism is the haunting fear that someone, somewhere is having a good time."

- H. L. Mencken

Sen. Rubio Says Congress Must Save U.S. Cigar Industry

 

(Cigar Aficionado) Sen. Marco Rubio, one of the cigar industry’s staunchest allies in Congress, says that the FDA has gone too far in its bid to regulate the cigar industry. Rubio (R-FL) wrote an opinion piece called “Congress Must Act to Save America’s Cigar Industry from Going Up in Smoke,” which was published in the Tampa Bay Times on July 5. Continued

Netflix to Cut Down on Smoking After ‘Stranger Things’ Leads Tobacco Use Study

Bugs Bunny made me smoke, and drop anvils on people.

(Rolling Stone) Days after the release of Stranger Things 3, Netflix has pledged to cut down on the amount of smoking seen in their original programming following outcry from an anti-smoking organization.
Truth Initiative, “America’s largest nonprofit public health organization committed to making tobacco use a thing of the past,” recently published a study cataloging the increased instances of characters smoking in television series. Continued