FDA Regulations and what's the next step?

[Kelon]

I don't think that most cigar smokers understand what is about to happen if we don't all stand up immediately and make a stand to let Congress know that premium cigars should not be lumped in with swisher sweets, black and milds, e cigs, cigarettes and all of the other fluffed up over processed chemical rich candies of the nicotine world. The whole landscape of even being able to go into a brick and mortar cigar shop will change permanently and a lot will just go out of buisiness. I don't know what the next step is to raise awareness and get more people to understand and get off of their butt to do something, but whatever it is it has to happen now. If you have any ideas please speak your mind. I don't want to be jobless in a year.

I know we have th CRA and other organizations working for us. What I want to focus on Is getting the word out to more individuals and what we all can do on a personal level and as the BOTL community.

 

[jasonsbeer]

A quick note to your federal legislators is always good. I wrote mine and got a response about ecigs. Reminds me that I need to follow up.

 

[plumber1965]

Yes everybody If you are not a CRA member become one and write your legislators. They are the ones that may be able to stop this insanity

 

[navyvet]

this is what you can do... find every person around you that is a cigar smoker and don't email your legislator show up at their office and demand to have an audience with your legislator if denied go everyday that is available, once denied then calmly leave but return the next day and repeat until you have secured an audience with him or her. let them know that we already pay a huge amount of taxes to secure our relaxation and we should not be denied our right to smoke cigars in the privacy of our own homes and in b&m's that children do not buy primeum cigars to smoke they don't buy them to look cool. and they should not be lumped in with ecigs and flavored bull shit. nothing about cigars is ment to attrached a younger crowd

 

[The Munt]

Sounds like a plan guys, take it from someone who wishes they did the above before we got hit here in Aus... I just hope the precedence that was set down under doesn't sway your governments decision.

 

[xjsnake]

Sounds like a plan guys, take it from someone who wishes they did the above before we got hit here in Aus... I just hope the precedence that was set down under doesn't sway your governments decision.

Forgive my ignorance, what happened in Australia?

 

[Dick Leighton]

Despite whatever went down in the other FDA thread, I think it's silly to lock it up.

So I'm bumping this one with this link:
Take a few seconds and fill this out. Then print it and mail it. http://www.capwiz.com/cigarrights/issues/alert/?alertid=62606471#.VytbjiZ23l8.facebook

We need to keep this discussion open so more people are aware of this and understand what they can do to combat it.

I spoke with a few cigar smokers over the weekend who still had no idea about what went down. That's absurd.

 

[Dick Leighton]

Pete Johnson just shared this on Facebook. We need signatures:

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/prevent-fda-overreach-and-stop-them-their-attempts-regulate-premium-cigar-industry

 

[The Munt]

Forgive my ignorance, what happened in Australia?

It started with a basic import duty and developed into the outlawing of tobacco products all together... They've killed local businesses because of plain packaging, no advertising allowed, can't have sales, specials, they even regulate the colours and fonts you can use on your website... The duty aspect has become a ridiculous cash grab that they keep putting up and within 4 years from now smoking will be reserved for the very wealthy. This trend will continue until they've outlawed tobacco completely through price hikes and regulations.

I truly believe once that happens they will eventually make it illegal for anyone born after a certain time to buy smokes in Australia. They are already discussing it.

 

[navyvet]

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/prevent-fda-overreach-and-stop-them-their-attempts-regulate-premium-cigar-industry

 

[navyvet]

My response from my legislator


Responding to your message

May 10, 2016, 9:32 AM

From Representative Susan W. Brooks
Dear Mr. Hobbs,


Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 662, the Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act of 2015. I appreciate the time you have taken to inform me of your thoughts on this issue.

As you may know, H.R. 662 was introduced by Congressman Bill Posey from Florida on February 2, 2015, and was referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. This legislation would exempt traditional large and premium cigars from regulation by the FDA and from user fees assessed on tobacco products. Should H.R. 662 come before the U.S. House of Representatives for a vote, please know I will certainly keep your thoughts in mind.

Thank you again for contacting me. Your thoughts and opinions are of critical importance to me as I work to represent Indiana’s 5th District in Congress. I sincerely appreciate your comments and look forward to hearing from you in the future.




Susan W. Brooks
Member of Congress

 

[Kelon]

Thanks for all of the feedback so far. I have noticed a couple people who posted the petitions. And wanted to elaborate on it. All you have to do is sign each petition. Wait for a verification email where you verify your signing of the petition. Then share the link with as many people as you can. Even if they don't smoke, if they care about personal freedoms and preserving the basic purpose of our country to be a free people then they should appreciate pitching in. Then your done. Easy peasy.

I'm trying to think of other ways to get signatures also. Like maybe canvassing, but I need to find out how getting those signatures works and how to get all of us in different cities with time they could volunteer to pitch in and do the same. Maybe going to busy city areas, your golf club or country club or any other places you can think of. Please pitch in ideas and insights of what you think may help. I will look into what it would take to make paper petitions valid.

Petition 1:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/do-not-enact-fdas-option-1-final-rule-premium-handmade-cigars

Petition 2:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/prevent-fda-overreach-and-stop-them-their-attempts-regulate-premium-cigar-industry

 

[navyvet]

if you are collecting signatures you have to get them to identify them selfs which is hard to do today. you have to get them to provide their address and an easier way would get their signatures and emails and then you can just go to the patition and put them in yourself but they would still have to verify

 

[navyvet]

people don't do to good with face to face interaction anymore with all the identity theft and things

 

[Kelon]

if you are collecting signatures you have to get them to identify them selfs which is hard to do today. you have to get them to provide their address and an easier way would get their signatures and emails and then you can just go to the patition and put them in yourself but they would still have to verify

Maybe walk around with my ipad?

 

[navyvet]

another thing you could do is occupy space at a local mall or in a shop and take everyones info with a laptop

 

[navyvet]

yeah but i would see if you can secure some literature to pass out as you explain most will throw it away but just encase some would want to learn of the atrocities that are happening in america today. a better way would be to explain or use a right that all covet

 

[navyvet]

people tend to no give a shit unless it effects them. but then when big brother comes knocking on their door it's all the sudden important

 

[TheReMixologist]

I have a popup mobile rolling station... I'm trying to figure out a way to roll up to a place where I can educate and get signatures and raise awareness on this issue. Naturally I need to do it legally but I'm racking my brain as to where? I'd love to park at the reps office but not sure that would fly... I thought about perhaps a big market place... I'm already working truck stops and car shows but that's not in the presence of the governing body. Any ideas? I'd travel to a group of people willing to rally together with petitions and educational materials.

 

[multi-useless]

I have a popup mobile rolling station... I'm trying to figure out a way to roll up to a place where I can educate and get signatures and raise awareness on this issue. Naturally I need to do it legally but I'm racking my brain as to where? I'd love to park at the reps office but not sure that would fly... I thought about perhaps a big market place... I'm already working truck stops and car shows but that's not in the presence of the governing body. Any ideas? I'd travel to a group of people willing to rally together with petitions and educational materials.

That's a super cool setup.

But I don't think attempting to educate the public is going to have any real impact, or success. Cigar lovers are a small percentage of the population; for every one of us, there's at least 1 Smoke Nazi out there who doesn't care about your freedoms as much as they care about feeling superior to you in some way, and will support anti-smoking laws and regulations like this because it makes them feel better. (And no, I'm not convinced that any of them do it "for the children" or because they care about public health...) I think it's more effective for a bunch of us to stand up and say to our congress critters "hey, I'm affected by this, and I vote." They need to hear more noise from us than from the other side.

Just my .02