Flavoured Papers Banned in USA and Canada!!!

[ShroomGuerilla]

Recently both the US and Canada have passed bills
that have made selling flavoured papers illegal.
They are saying that they are packaged and marketed like candy....
BULLSHIT.

One of the leaders in the industry, Juicy Jays,
have made a petition.

Please sign the petition and help save this important niche market.
http://savejuicyjays.com/forms/view.php?id=1

[ShroomGuerilla]

FDA Clarifies Flavored Cigarette Ban

September 22, 2009 - WASHINGTON -- Additional information was provided by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in regards to the ban on cigarettes containing "certain characterizing flavors" that went into effect Sept. 22, including the implication of rolling papers, roll-your-own tobacco and little cigars.

The FDA stated the "special rule" prohibits a cigarette or its component parts -- including the tobacco, filter or paper -- from containing ingredients, additives, herbs, spices, and artificial or natural flavors other than tobacco or menthol. Such flavors that are banned include strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry and coffee.

According to a statement released yesterday by the FDA, this ban applies to loose tobacco to be used as cigarette and roll-your-own tobacco, as well as cigarette rolling papers and filters.

"A consumer-rolled, roll-your-own cigarette is a cigarette under section 900(3) [of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act] because it is a wrapped roll of tobacco," the FDA said in a statement. "Rolling paper or filters intended for use in roll-your-own cigarettes are component parts of a rolled, roll-your-own cigarette and therefore may not be flavored with a characterizing flavor."

As a result, Republic Tobacco issued a statement to retailers and wholesalers, stating that the sale of certain products has ceased, including Golden Wrap flavored tobacco wraps, Top flavored papers and Wildfire flavored papers. It also asked its customers to halt the sale of these products, and instead, return the products by Oct. 30, for a full credit of the purchase price.

The ban does not apply to flavored pipe tobacco, and it is not immediately clear if the ban applies to little cigars. In its statement to the tobacco industry, the FDA said the ban applies to all tobacco products with certain characterizing flavors that meet the definition of a "cigarette" in section 900(3) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, even if they are not labeled as "cigarettes" or are labeled as cigars or as some other product.

In a separate statement, the FDA stated it is examining options for regulating both menthol cigarettes and flavored tobacco products other than cigarettes. And when asked during a press conference about the application of the ban to little cigars, the head of the FDA's tobacco committee, Dr. Lawrence Deyton, said the issue of a ban on other flavored tobacco products will be studied by the FDA in the near future, according to reports by the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO), which said, "The lack of a definitive 'yes' or 'no' in the FDA advisory ... plus the statement by Dr. Deyton about the need to study the issue further, can lead a reasonable person to conclude that flavored little cigars are not banned at this time."

Kretek International Inc., which imports Djarum-brand tobacco products from Indonesia, recently began importing cigars similar to the size of a cigarette and contain flavors such as clove and vanilla, in efforts to circumvent the ban, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Kretek did not immediately return a call from the Journal for comment.

An FDA lawyer told the paper the FDA would look at "little cigars" and similar products on a "case-by-case basis."

If a retailer, manufacturer, importer or wholesaler is found to violate this ban, the FDA said its general practice is to issue warning letters to firms before taking enforcement action, to notify firms that they or their products are in violation of the law, and to give them an opportunity to comply. However, the FDA added, "when circumstances are appropriate, FDA may take enforcement action to protect the public health without first issuing a warning letter."

[morbidangel]

good thing i stocked up on papers and wraps

[bugs]

I just get this sick, sinking, helpless feeling when I see this stupidity.

[MushroomJoe]

Just signed.. Hope it works.

[wearegomba]

oh WTF
really sad...
I dont even like flavored papers,
but damnit i guess uncle sam made the call for us on this one, keepin the people safe and free.

[eatyualive]

guess now there is going to be a black market on papes. so what i got a strawberry flavored paper for 30 bucks anyone want one?

[greenie]

un fucking real. land of the free... to not be free.

[eatyualive]

Originally Posted by wearegomba

oh WTF
really sad...
I dont even like flavored papers,
but damnit i guess uncle sam made the call for us on this one, keepin the people safe and free.

safe? they allow diet drinks. thats worse for you than flavored paper...lol..i call bullshit on this law.

[Beastmaster]

The things are nasty anyways... and certainly do seem geared towards a younger demographic. Seems similar to banning tobacco companies from using cartoon characters as spokespersons. Tobacco is bad for you, m'kay? Using a cartoon to advertise or artificial flavors and colors to mask the nasty, brown taste of death doesn't make it any better.

[DanLarkin]

Awwww man. This is depressing.

[ShroomGuerilla]

They are arguing that it is being marketed to kids..
The bright colours and cartoons on the packaging.

Uhhh.. there are age restrictions on tobacco products right?
Thats like saying Kools are marketed to kids by having shiny packaging.

Complete and utter nonsense...

I personally don't use flavoured papers or blunts,
but this is fucked, simply a jab at the counter-culture.

Fuck them.
I just read this...
Looks like some of the cigar and paper companies are
suing the FDA.

FDA Sued Again on Flavored Cigarette Ban

October 14, 2009 - WASHINGTON -- BBK Tobacco & Foods, doing business as HBI International, filed a federal lawsuit last week seeking to overturn the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) ban on flavored cigarette rolling papers sold in separate packages, according to the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO).

The company is seeking to protect its brands, namely Juicy Jays and Skunk, according to a company representative quoted by the association.

In this suit, BBK Tobacco claims the new FDA law that bans flavored cigarettes and the components does not mention that the ban extends to flavored cigarette rolling papers packaged separately.

BBK Tobacco said in a Courthouse News Service report the FDA is trying to "expand its authority to regulate cigarettes containing 'characterizing flavors' under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act."

It noted the law states the ban covers "a cigarette or any of its component parts (including the tobacco, filter or paper)," but allegedly does not specify flavored papers that are sold separately. The company also notes the ban's definition of cigarette includes products that contain tobacco, and flavored paper sold separately does not include tobacco, and therefore should not be included in the ban, according to the report.

In addition, sales of flavored papers comprise a "significant portion" of annual profits for BBK Tobacco, and the ban has had a "devastating impact" on its business. The company seeks an order declaring U.S. agencies "have no authority to regulate flavored papers sold separately under the act," and an injunction blocking the government from banning the papers, the report stated.

Another tobacco company, Kretek Intl., the importer and distributor of the Djarum cigar brand, also filed a suit last month against the FDA, following what it claimed was the FDA's intention to exceed its legislative authority to regulate flavored cigarettes by banning other tobacco products as well.

[ashroom]

so wait... does this include blunt wraps too? real sad state of affairs if i have to start importing blunt wraps. i signed it, wish everyone on the site would this is b*llsh*t!

[stonedcoder]

Originally Posted by Beastmaster

The things are nasty anyways... and certainly do seem geared towards a younger demographic. Seems similar to banning tobacco companies from using cartoon characters as spokespersons. Tobacco is bad for you, m'kay? Using a cartoon to advertise or artificial flavors and colors to mask the nasty, brown taste of death doesn't make it any better.

i agree with you beast - but not the point - i've only used flavored papers a handful of time ...and have never personally purchased them myself (nor would i) but this ban still f'd up just on premiss.... i wonder how much this bill cost - how many man hours spent toiling away on a flavored paper bill ...sheeesh !

Originally Posted by ShroomGuerilla

but this is fucked, simply a jab at the counter-culture.

BINGO - i think you hit the nail on the head here

[apokalypse]

And Canada is mentioned where...?

[ShroomGuerilla]

Originally Posted by apokalypse

And Canada is mentioned where...?

Well the two articles I posted were regarding the FDA ban.


However here is an article about the Canadian bill, Bill C-32.

Flavoured rolling papers banned in Canada? Really?
sheldon birnie | oct 19


On June 17, 2009, Bill C-32 quietly passed through the House of Commons, amending the Tobacco Act “to provide additional protection to youth from tobacco marketing.” This followed Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s 2008 election promise to ban “fruit or candy-flavoured cigarillos” in Canadian stores. “These products,” Harper told anyone who would listen, “are packaged as a candy, and this is totally unacceptable.”

Rationally unacceptable themselves, the amendments, which have only to pass through Senate before taking effect on the streets sometime around December, target “flavoured cigarillos” (Prime Times, for example), as well as other products “targeting youth” like flavoured rolling papers and “blunt wraps.” Bill C-32 passed through the house easily, as it would have been hard for anyone to take a public stand against “protecting youth” from the big-bad tobacco boogeyman, no matter how ineffectual the actual legislation.

This tough-talk on “protecting youth from tobacco marketing” comes from the same man who proposed, during the same campaign, that keeping “junkies in rehab and off the streets” was a valid way to combat drug addiction in Canada. In his years in office, if nothing else, Harper has consistently chosen the one-two punch of flamboyant public displays of verbal platitudes and stomach-churning photo opportunities over actual action at every opportunity. Case in point: his apology to residential school survivors at home in 2008 followed by his denial of Canada’s colonial history abroad last month.

So, what’s the big deal? A weird niche market has been eliminated by a drab piece of social conservative legislation. Surely there are bigger fish to fry. Bill C-32 is a waste of time and an insult to adults and children alike that won’t solve anything, but rather imposes social conservative values on the “free market” that fiscal conservatives value so highly.

Ask yourself, please: will banning flavoured rolling papers or cigars stop kids from smoking? Of course not. First of all, it is illegal to sell them to minors as it is. Anyone selling tobacco products in Canada is legally obliged to ask for photo ID from anyone trying to buy said products who even appears to be under the age of 25. Does this happen all the time? No. Does it happen often? Yes, it does. Will kids, if at first they don’t succeed, try again, somewhere and somehow, to achieve their devious ends?

Certainly. Kids will always do things they aren’t supposed to do, for no other reason than that they aren’t supposed to do them. Besides, if a 12-year old kid somehow gets hold of flavoured rolling papers, and can use them properly, that kid is likely dealing with far more pressing social concerns than the fact that maybe his papers taste like blueberries rather than regular old paper. Where did that kid learn how to roll, and where did he get the papers, the weed, tobacco, whatever? Where are his parents?

Regardless of what Harper would have us believe, the majority of people consuming these nearly banned products are adults, fully capable of making their own decisions, however untoward they may be to the social conservatives’ idealized Dominion under God.

Why should Harper — who appeared on TV recently to tell us how he “gets high with a little help from his friends,” though, I suppose, not with flavoured rolling papers — tell me what I can or cannot wrap my dope or tobacco, or whatever, in? Who’s to tell any adult they can’t enjoy something as insignificant as a flavoured cigar on their personal time? You?

Let’s say — hypothetically, of course — that an upstanding citizen like, say, Burton Cummings, who recently received honourary membership to the University of Manitoba Dental Alumni Association, wanted to smoke whatever it is he, as an adult, chooses to smoke wrapped up in banana flavoured rolling papers. Now, I’ve never been much on religion, but in my mind Burt stands tall, not only as an undeniable Canadian rock-god, but as a pillar of the community. If he — hypothetically — chooses to smoke banana flavoured rolling papers, who am I to tell him he can’t, because some day some kid might want to try smoking evil weeds because that kid thought, somehow, that smoke could taste like magical candy bananas?

Not me. Fuck no. I’m thinking about it now, and I’m terrified. But, the prime minister is obviously of another mind: he’s already done it.
What I, personally, would like to see is Harper’s legislative throw-down acted out in real time, in an alley behind the Albert in the earliest hours of the morning. Sirens wail in the background, steam rises from piss-soaked concrete. Harper, now, would have to physically wrestle a carton of banana flavoured rolling papers from the hands of Burton Cummings, who I imagine would croon “Charlemagne” while mercilessly trouncing poor Steve in the ensuing bloodbath. Hell, if they held it at the MTS Centre, there would be a full house, and I’d be there, front row.

I spoke recently with my friend Francis about this business. At the time, I was mildly confused by it all, and not altogether as insulted as I now feel. Francis, on the other hand, was livid.

“Where is the line drawn?” he asked, crushing an empty Bud Light Lime in his fist. “Flavoured booze? What the fuck, no more peach vodka?” Francis turned nasty at that point, muttering on about impaling and bashing elected officials. Francis was my ride home. My night was ruined.

But his question remains: “Where is the line drawn?” If adults are not allowed to make their own choices, good, bad, or in-between, but are instead legislated into following a rigid concept of optimized social behavior, then what the fuck is the point of being an adult?

That kids will think smoking, or drinking, or drugs are cool and will want to try them should be old news, by now. Making costly rules to deter them from doing what they will instinctively do — rebel — won’t solve anything. And really, isn’t there anything else our elected officials could possibly be spending time and tax dollars on at this particular moment in time? Anything? Swine flu? The economy? Afghanistan? Social inequality? The environment? Education?

Flavoured rolling papers? Really?

[Hippie3]

fucking pigs.
see why
i am an outlaw.

[Pure madness 2]

Agreed^^^

[extrememetal43]

More stupid laws...its just gettin worse and worse in this country.

[copelandiaKidd]

More stupid laws...its just gettin worse and worse in this country.

THIS^^^^^^

[TVCasualty]

I guess peach schnapps, strawberry daquiris, and white russians are totally different; flavoring alcohol to cover up it's harsher characteristics and make it more palatable apparently has no effect on 'youth,' so it's ok.


I try to keep in mind that the laws seem ridiculous or insane only because they're written by the stupid for the stupid, and of course temptation must be kept out of the hands of their astonishingly stupid offspring. Welcome to Lowest Common Denominator Culture. The trouble is, they also think what's good for their kid is good for everyone, dammit.

[Hippie3]

I guess peach schnapps, strawberry daquiris, and white russians are totally different; flavoring alcohol to cover up it's harsher characteristics and make it more palatable apparently has no effect on 'youth,' so it's ok.

good point.

[(neo)Figment]

No sir I don't like it

[bugs]

It's sad how kids are used as as an excuse to control adult behavior.

[ashroom]

i guess it includes flavored blunt wraps too. just went to my store and stocked up since they are clearing them out for less than a buck

[Faaip De Oaid]

I believe Trey Parker and Matt Stone said it perfectly in the movie Team America: World Police...
"Freedom isn't free, it costs folks like you and me"

[hallucinogeneti]

Originally Posted by bugs

It's sad how kids are used as as an excuse to control adult behavior.

all too often