Not Even Tobacco Is Safe
By Anthony Gregory • Thursday April 2, 2009 10:54 AM PDT • 8 Comments
Opponents of the drug war have long criticized the legislative hypocrisy of allowing alcohol and even subsidizing tobacco while prohibiting, even imprisoning people over, comparatively less dangerous substances. Critics of the FDA have long pointed out that its oppressive guidelines, if applied to tobacco, would lead to its illegality or at least very strict control.
The House has overwhelmingly voted to empower the FDA to regulate tobacco. The agency would not be able to ban it, but it would be able to severely restrict the industry.
Big Tobacco has tended to favor government restrictions on illicit drugs, and sometimes the banning of tobacco products not produced by the biggest companies. It is an industry largely in bed with the state. Its power, as well as the American culture’s long embrace of tobacco, have kept the war on tobacco limited. It has increasingly been taxed and driven off of commercial property, a violation of property rights surely, but it has been more than tolerated compared to more controlled substances. There is also the more important cultural value at play — the American dedication to individual liberty. But that has been a waning protection against state encroachment for at least a century, and alcohol prohibition and the war on drugs among other programs have undermined the devotion to personal responsibility and rights necessary for a culture to stand up for the rights of a shrinking minority.
Fewer people smoke and people smoke less, which is good. This has been done in a relatively liberal environment so far — education and cultural trends have played at least as much a role as the sin taxes, and those are not nearly as draconian as jail time. Notably, Americans are healthier with respect to tobacco than they used to be, despite having no government crusade against them as well-funded and militaristic as the war on drugs.
But as this group shrinks and the relative power of the tobacco industry shrinks in light of today’s very large events in political economy, and assuming Americans continue to neglect the issue of personal liberty at stake, the government’s efforts to control and minimize tobacco could pick up more steam and begin to resemble elements of outright prohibition.
For the time being, tobacco will continue to be increasingly marginalized, demonized and controlled, but not banned. I believe the powers that be prefer the tobacco industry and the taxes and subsidies and regulations to the prospect of banning tobacco. But years down the line, if the number of Americans who enjoy tobacco diminishes significantly, it’s not impossible anymore to imagine it being banned. This country did ban alcohol, after all, and it’s hard to be surprised any more by the modern American state’s pretenses of omnipotence.
Tags: Civil Liberties, Drugs, Natural Law, Personal Liberty, Police, Property Rights, Regulation, Taxation, The State 
Sometimes, I wish the government would just ban tobacco and alcohol, so people could see for themselves the crime and misery that results from this. Maybe that would finally teach the talking heads a lesson, and would shift opinion towards the legalization of all drugs.
Sukrit | Apr 2, 2009 | Reply
Sukrit, I agree with your sentiment that opinion needs to shift towards legalization of all drugs. However, rather than banning even more drugs, such as tobacco and alcohol, (which repression would lead to even more misery and violence, which, I suspect, would never be acknowledged by the talking heads), I think what needs to be banned is the repressive government itself.
Grant Reiner | Apr 3, 2009 | Reply
Wasn’t the new expansion of S-CHIP coverage linked to cigarette taxes? So, is the government going to need people to keep smoking to maintain funding for the healthcare for children—loosely defined to include 35-year olds as long as they are still in college?
Crawdad | Apr 3, 2009 | Reply
Too true sukrit.
I agree. Would be a great day for the world.
If they do ban it eventually there will still be a few people who smoke and they will go nuts. People will see the injustice and stealing of personal freedom and rights.
Nothing more to add.
tom | Apr 4, 2009 | Reply
What is up with all this hypocrisy? Driving a car is more likely to kill or injure you than smoking. As a matter of fact, if you do your own research on the web, you will find that vehicles injure or kill more people than smoking or even gun control. Half of gun deaths are suicides. Just a note to all, please do your own research and you will be surprised by what you fine. <
KDF | Apr 7, 2009 | Reply
“Half the gun deaths are suicide.” Where did you get that statistic? This is a ridiculous statement.
Legalizing drugs will solve the economic crisis and save billions in federal money.
mark | Apr 7, 2009 | Reply
Dear Mark,
Suicides accounted for 55% in 2005, the latest year with full accounting. In fact suicide has been number one in gun deaths for the last 25 years.
So who is ridiculous?
Your last sentence is exactly right.
Hey, 500 is a good batting average.
James Wahler | Apr 9, 2009 | Reply
We should have learned a lesson during prohibition. With a willing buyer, there will always be a seller. This can be applied equally to drugs, prostitution, and any other act that is not a crime against an individual.
The U.S.’s hunger for drugs is destroying Mexico and several supplying countries. If we are again incompetent in controlling the supply, let’s at least take the profit out of it by purchasing it directly from the producing country. In cocaine there is a mark up of 150 times the price the leaf is sold in Bolivia. Buy from Bolivia, process it here and sell it in government stores under carefully controlled conditions. This would remove the profit of about 70 billion dollars in the US market alone, kill the cartels who are killing people all over, and have a very carefully controlled delivery system. The big killer is tobacco and we are doing nothing to limit its use. Tobacco must be treated as the henious drug it is.
Canada, or at least Manitoba, sells it’s liquor in State stores. Why not put the limits on promotion and sell drugs through state stores. If you’re over 21, supposedly you’re an adult. I believe the solution is in preventing promotion, not preventing sales, and a vigorous education campaign.
the Canadian approach to tobacco seems very intelligent. They run counter adds to every tobacco add. One industry spokesman said that Canada will essentially be out of the tobacco market in 35 years.
Efforts to eliminate Prostitution have been fruitless in every country in the world. There is an excellent book, Liberty for Women, that examines the issue very well. At present we have abuse of the prostitute by police, no control over the health of the sex-workers, and have done nothing to reduce the trade. Why not legalize it and make it possible to have healthy, safe working conditions for the prostitute and the client. I believe it has been done in Sweden and in other countries. Again, education is the system of control, not the law.
Marvin Peterson | Apr 12, 2009 | Reply