Lawmakers are seeking to reverse the Obama administration’s ban on sending cigars to American service members stationed overseas, questioning the logic behind a regulation that appears to be aimed at “protecting them from themselves.”
“All the free cigars that manufacturers send to troops overseas, they can’t do that anymore, because it’s a health hazard,” Florida Rep. Bill Posey noted in an interview with the Washington Examiner. “So we have our young men and women in uniform, in war, where they can be killed or maimed, but it’s too dangerous for them to enjoy the simple pleasures of a premium cigar.”
The rules, which were imposed by the Food and Drug Administration and became effective Aug. 8, classified premium cigars, e-cigarettes and hookah products as tobacco products akin to cigarettes. The regulation calls into question whether manufacturers can still provide products like hand-rolled cigars to the troops under “sampling” or “enticement” provisions that have enabled the practice in the past.
The FDA has been mum on the issue. The agency has yet to respond to a Sept. 8 inquiry lodged by California Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican and Marine Corps veteran, asking for guidance on whether it was serious about the ban.
Another member, Democratic Florida Rep. Kathy Castor, said this month that she hopes to pass legislation that would overturn the rules. Yet with congressional attention focused mainly on passing a budget for the coming fiscal year before members return home for the holidays, legislative action looks increasingly unlikely.
Related Story: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2595399
The rules could put an end to nonprofit organizations like Cigars for Warriors that send care packages to troops stationed overseas, and put an end to the traditional participation of cigar manufacturers in charitable efforts for the military. Manufacturers including J.C. Newman, Rocky Patel Premium Cigars, and Thompson Cigar have all said they would suspend contributions unless changes are made.
In a statement, FDA spokesman Michael Felberbaum shifted some blame Congress, while emphasizing troops are still free to find cigars using their own resources. “In passing the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act in 2009, Congress prohibited the charitable distribution of tobacco products,‎” Felberbaum said in a statement. “This provision initially applied to cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. In May, the FDA finalized a rule … that extended its authority to all tobacco products, including cigars, bringing them in line with other tobacco products the FDA has regulated under the TCA since 2009.”
“The prohibition on charitable distribution does not restrict an individual’s ability to give a gift, such as a care package, to an individual family member or friend who is in the military,” he added. “All questions about what may or may not be included in such packages should be directed to the proper military branch.”
“No teenager smokes premium cigars,” Posey pointed out. “But this is what they’ve chosen to regulate. As a result, they’re not going to allow our troops to have those furnished to them. It’s another example of government run amok.”
