Yet again, the stupid party and the evil party have joined forces to stick moronic regulations that have nothing to do with federal spending into an omnibus spending bill. On top of the extension of the cronyist Export-Import Bank and repealing Obamacare’s “Cadillac tax,” the year-end spending bill will reportedly raise the tobacco purchasing age to 21.
Inexplicably, this will also apply to vaping devices, products which do not use tobacco.
Now it’s not just President Trump’s Food and Drug Administration attempting to crackdown on vaping. Congress is getting in on the game!
Seeing as vaping is the most successful cessation treatment we have for smoking cigarettes, a habit started by nearly 9 out of 10 users by age 18, this regulation could quite literally kill. Vaping is almost twice as successful as other nicotine replacement methods in helping smokers quit carcinogenic tobacco consumption, yet both parties seem keen on keeping safe and regulated vaping devices from the hands of adults who may already be addicted to a habit that causes 1 out of every 5 deaths in the country per year.
On principle, the government banning adults legally capable of dying for their countries from enjoying an evening cigar is egregious. Sure, the case could be made that actual tobacco products posit externalities worthy of regulation, but vaping is a different story. And even so, the federal government isn’t just arguably infringing on state powers with the most liberal interpretation of the Interstate Commerce Clause. It’s doing to in a bill that’s expressly intended to fund the government, not to expand it.
Democrats may want to torch Trump out of office, and Republicans may claim they want to own the libs, but never underestimate the willingness of both parties to agree to a legislative ceasefire when the opportunity to inflate big government arises.
