Enjoy the occasional stogie? You should be worried. The federal government just killed innovation and experimentation in cigar manufacturing, writes Jacob Grier:
Although yesterday’s announcement that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will start regulating e-cigarettes is getting the most attention—Reason’s Jacob Sullum explains why this is awful news for vapers—the agency’s new deeming regulations also have huge implications for the cigar industry.
The threat of FDA restrictions have loomed over the cigar business ever since the FDA took control over cigarettes; yesterday morning, the other shoe finally dropped.
The worst fear of cigar manufacturers and smokers alike has been that the FDA will impose the same onerous pre-market review requirements on cigars that it currently places on cigarettes. In theory, this review process ensures that any new products introduced to market are no more dangerous than what is already for sale. In practice, it halts the introduction of new products, trapping applications in interminable bureaucratic limbo. The history of FDA cigarette regulation shows that cigar smokers are right to be concerned.
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