No Snus Allowed in Sweden? EU Moves Against Snus.

No Snus Allowed in Sweden? EU Moves Against Snus.

For the last 15+ years, Swedish politicians and their EU representatives have been working for a lifting of the EU snus ban as it unfairly restricts Sweden's right to free trade within the EU.  As the new EU TPD is expected to come up for a vote in the 4thquarter of 2012, the stakes and the arguments have risen.

The argument by Sweden to remove the EU snus ban from the TPD was set on its side by this latest development of banning tobacco flavorings.  Effectively, the EU is breaking it's original agreement with Sweden by not actually banning snus, but banning all the flavoring ingredients required to produce snus.  These flavoring ingredients, like Swedish snus itself, have been regulated as food products since 1970 by the Swedish National Food Administration (Sweden's version of FDA).

These bastards aren't keeping their word?

That's a shock.

Federal Tax Hike Drives Roll-Your-Own Smokers To Pipe Tobacco

Federal Tax Hike Drives Roll-Your-Own Smokers To Pipe Tobacco

So how much has this tax-avoidance-by-substitution cost Uncle Sam? The GAO estimated that the shift to pipe tobacco and big cigars means the fed has realized somewhere  between $615 million and $1.1 billion less in taxes than if the product mix hadn’t changed.


Funny that.
The law of unintended consequences strikes again.

Hitler Controversy Over Comparing Smoking Regulations To Nazi Policy Is 'Bull****'

John Raese: Hitler Controversy Over Comparing Smoking Regulations To Nazi Policy Is 'Bull****'

During an April 12 dinner, Raese called a smoking ban government overreach and said, "But in Monongalia County now, I have to put a huge sticker on my buildings to say this is a smoke-free environment. This is brought to you by the government of Monongalia County. Okay?" he remarked. "Remember Hitler used to put Star of David on everybody’s lapel, remember that? Same thing."

Not something I ever thought I'd read in Huffington Post that's for sure.