Just watched Matches860 Friday Night Live weekly video and he was discussing the YouTube plan to demonetize the YTPC videos. Especially those giving pipe smoking tips and tobacco reviews. Seems like YouTube is also getting in on the FDA Fun. How long before pipe forums start getting the axe?
Stuff like this just aggravates the Hell out of me. Can't believe I'm 69 and people are still trying to tell me how to live my life. I'd really like to know if there is something we can actually do about this impending war against pipes and tobacco. There must be something? Prohibition of alcohol didn't work in the Roaring 20s' and the sale of alcohol became legal. The Government's War On Drugs and marijuana in particular has proven to be such a failure many states have simply thrown in the towel and legalized the sale of recreational pot. So why is it so damn hard for the tobacco industry to make any leeway against the Government's war on tobacco products? I fully support restrictions keeping minors from purchasing tobacco products ... but for crying out loud ... I'm 69 and already have one foot in the grave. I want the Government to keep their nose out of my humidor.
May the Lord protect us from those who would protect us from ourselves.
I've lived through a widowmaker heart attack and so many predicted end of the world scenarios I've lost count and I intend to outlive all these idiots just to piss them off.
@ghostsofpompeii Sorry for the late reply, but yes - in a sense... SF has banned all vaping products. So, tobacco sales are still good but no vaping. I am on the side that vaping is safer than combustable cigarettes; however, not saying that vaping is safe in and of itself.
@mfresa I'm sorry I live here too! Weather's great....hahaha
@motie2 Murder and mayhem is perfectly acceptable on NetFlix but smoking is troubling? Man will I be happy when this whole SJW movement finally runs its course.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s timetable for requiring Substantial Equivalence (SE) applications has been the topic of discussion among many manufacturers for the past few weeks. According to the FDA’s acting commissioner Ned Sharpless, it stands ready to start reviewing e-cigarettes to help combat the growing epidemic of teen vaping.
I don't know if I hope so or if I hope not. We are a select group. To me, it's not about the tobacco...although without the tobacco the pipe would be useless, but it's more about the pipe! I'm sure I don't want it to be stifled with "Just Tobacco Users."
@KA9FFJ Crazy....no....asinine! No one can take responsibility for their actions anymore....let’s have the FDA make stupid laws to “save” stupid people (in their opinion) from themselves.
Been to the Gatlinburlier a couple of times myself. Outstanding pipe shop - that make their own briar pipes and the Cades Cove Cavendish mentioned in the pic above is outstanding!
I wonder how much of an uproar there would be if a new law got proposed and introduced into congress "To regulate alcoholic beverages under the same standards as tobacco."
@FatherBriar - They have their own briar pipes made for them is more accurate. Also, I've read on other forums that some - not all - but some of their blends are just renamed bulk blends.
And, the attack continues ... this time in the form of the federal House Energy and Commerce Committee's Health Subcommittee's bill H.R. 2339. If this legislative bill is passed into law by Congress in its current form, it will ban all catalogue and internet sales for tobacco products -- cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, and e-cig and vaping fluids.
Known as the "Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act," H.R. 2339 targets the cigarette and vaping industries, yet includes cigars and pipe tobacco. The bill clearly states that ALL tobacco purchases, including all cigars and pipe tobacco, would require "retail sales through a direct, in-person exchange between a retailer and a consumer."
H.R. 2339 also seeks to raise the national tobacco purchasing age to 21, including military personnel (they're old enough to die for our country, but they're not old enough to smoke??), and would give the FDA the authority to collect another $100 million in user fees from the tobacco industry.
The bill has a few more steps to complete before it can be passed into law. The full House Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to vote on - and pass! - H.R. 2339 next week. Afterwards, the bill would go before the House for a final vote. However, a timeline for that has not been set. If passed by the House, it would then go to the Senate for a final vote before going to Trump for his consideration.
I don't know about you, but it seems this piece of legislation is more about a federal money grab than the purported and tired excuse of "saving children." However, this bill, if passed, will have a significantly negative impact on the tobacco industry and its consumers. By prohibiting catalogue and internet tobacco sales, all online retailers will be forced to shut down their tobacco retail websites and either conduct business as a B&M retailer (if they don't already) or go out of business. For pipe smokers, it will mean having to drive to a pipe tobacco retail store in order to buy your pipes, tobacco, and accessories. Of course, buying products in a B&M retail store also means your costs go up because you'll be required to pay sales tax on all of your purchases -- something you avoid when you buy online.
So, if H.R. 2339 passes, the bill is a win-win for the government (FDA and the states) and corporate tobacco retailers. But, it's a total loser for small B&M retailers who rely on internet sales to keep their doors open, retailers that only have an online presence, and you, the customer. If you haven't contacted your Congressional representatives yet, now is the time to do so and let them know how strongly you oppose H.R. 2339!
@motie2 That would limit my purchase of tobacco in the future to Captain Black and a half dozen Codger blends. As well as those gas station blends sold in 16 oz. bags like "Jester", "Smoker's Pride", "Large", "4 Aces", and "Gambler", because the blends I normal buy are from on-line tobacco shops like Pipes & Cigars. Once The Tinder Box closed down we have no true Tobacco Shops near me. The only places that carry tobacco are "Smokes For Less" which cater to cigarettes, cheap cigars, and those 16 oz.bags of value pipe tobacco.
It's news like this that feeds my Tobacco Derangement Syndrome prompting me to make another tobacco order even though I'm pretty certain I have enough stocked away in my cellar to last a lifetime.
We have two B&M Cigar shops and both carry a few pipes and pipe tobaccos. Bad thing though, I just purchased a single tin of C&D “Mad Fiddler Flake”, which was cool that they had it in stock, but it was $18.00😳 I try to drop some coin at each shop occasionally, but that same tin is $9.99 from SP.com, and I’m pretty sure the B&M would order a minimum of $95 to get free shipping. I also think they probably get a wholesale price. I understand they need to make a profit to stay in business, but dang. Also, I’m pretty sure SP.com is not going broke at $9.99 a tin either.
It seems that IF that bill gets passed, it would be a license for B&M’s to rob and pillage. It would be a serious setback for pipe smokers especially, there would be very few, if any, B&M’s that would be able to stock a major variety of pipes or tobaccos. Quite a hindrance considering business is being conducted more and more online and moving away from storefronts. Also, I can count the number of pipe smokers I have seen around this town in the 7+ years I have been smoking a pipe on one hand. Except when one of the local B&M’s (the two we have are mostly cigar shops, but do carry about 25-100 pipes and 25-50 pipe tobaccos) had a “Pipe Day” in the store with door prizes, free tobacco samples, and an Alantra rep. showing his wares....there were about 15-20 guys. In a town of a bit over 105,000 (the largest in Montana) that is not many people to keep shops supplying pipes and tobacco🙁
@RockyMountainBriar I understand what your saying about "license for B&M to rob and pillage." But I have a different opinion on that. The on-line retailers are able to sell at lower prices than a B&M because they deal in higher quantities of product than a local B&M. The larger on-line retailers - because they can order say a 1,000 tins of a blend - can get a wholesale price break. How big of a price break? I saw an invoice at a small B&M recently and his wholesale price was about the same as the on-line retailer selling price. Basically, the B&M is having to pay the same price you and I pay when buying on-line.
On top of that, while the on-line retailer does have overhead costs, because of the size of the operation the overhead costs are spread out thinner. The following is a simplistic look but I think its accurate:
The grocery side of Walmart needs to buy canned corn to stock the shelves. The go to the can corn producer and says, "We are going to order 10,000 cases of can corn, how big of a bulk discount are you going to give me?" The can corn producer says, "Our wholesale price is $15 per case but since Walmart is buying 10,000 cases, we will drop the price to $10 a case." The cost to the local independent store is 50% higher. How does this affect the consumer? Walmart is basically paying 41¢ a can and selling it at 69¢ a can while the local store is paying 62¢ a can and having to sell it 90¢ a can for the same gross profit. And that's before any thought of overhead costs are added into the equation.
Everything else you said, I pretty much agree with.
Another thing people have to consider when purchasing tobacco from a local B&M or grocery store ... State sales tax on tobacco. In some States the sales tax alone can almost double the cost of a tin of tobacco. When factoring in the usual mark-up a B&M has to charge to make some kind of profit then tack on the more outrageous sales tax for tobacco some States charge, and this alone will kill what's left of the industry without an outright ban of tobacco products.
This little 'on line' ploy from the FDA is the final nail in the coffin in our hobby. I'd wager to say that many of us who presently have a well stocked cellar will probably be forced to give up pipe smoking when our stock is depleted. The price of a quality tin will only be affordable to the affluent with cash to burn (pardon the pun). For the retiree like myself, living on a fixed income, those little pleasures will be out of my reach as I struggle to keep ahead of the other rising cost that eat away at my pension check.
Comments
Funny how more and more of our freedoms are being slowly removed.... For our own sakes, of course. The Nanny State marches on.
I've lived through a widowmaker heart attack and so many predicted end of the world scenarios I've lost count and I intend to outlive all these idiots just to piss them off.
Netflix to Cut Down on Tobacco Use and Depictions
A federal judge has given cigar and e-cigarette manufacturers 10-months to apply for approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to keep their products on the market.
https://tobaccobusiness.com/may-2020-deadline-set-for-substantial-equivalence-applications/
FDA "STANDS READY" TO ACCELERATE REVIEW OF E-CIGARETTES AND OTHER TOBACCO PRODUCTS
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s timetable for requiring Substantial Equivalence (SE) applications has been the topic of discussion among many manufacturers for the past few weeks. According to the FDA’s acting commissioner Ned Sharpless, it stands ready to start reviewing e-cigarettes to help combat the growing epidemic of teen vaping.
READ MORE
https://tobaccobusiness.com/facebook-and-instagram-updates-policy-to-restrict-tobacco-content/
FOR YOUR READING "PLEASURE" AND COMMENTS
Crazy....no....asinine! No one can take responsibility for their actions anymore....let’s have the FDA make stupid laws to “save” stupid people (in their opinion) from themselves.
https://www.thestorytellerspipe.com/post/h-r-2339
<<H.R. 2339
And, the attack continues ... this time in the form of the federal House Energy and Commerce Committee's Health Subcommittee's bill H.R. 2339. If this legislative bill is passed into law by Congress in its current form, it will ban all catalogue and internet sales for tobacco products -- cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, and e-cig and vaping fluids.
Known as the "Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act," H.R. 2339 targets the cigarette and vaping industries, yet includes cigars and pipe tobacco. The bill clearly states that ALL tobacco purchases, including all cigars and pipe tobacco, would require "retail sales through a direct, in-person exchange between a retailer and a consumer."
H.R. 2339 also seeks to raise the national tobacco purchasing age to 21, including military personnel (they're old enough to die for our country, but they're not old enough to smoke??), and would give the FDA the authority to collect another $100 million in user fees from the tobacco industry.
The bill has a few more steps to complete before it can be passed into law. The full House Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to vote on - and pass! - H.R. 2339 next week. Afterwards, the bill would go before the House for a final vote. However, a timeline for that has not been set. If passed by the House, it would then go to the Senate for a final vote before going to Trump for his consideration.
I don't know about you, but it seems this piece of legislation is more about a federal money grab than the purported and tired excuse of "saving children." However, this bill, if passed, will have a significantly negative impact on the tobacco industry and its consumers. By prohibiting catalogue and internet tobacco sales, all online retailers will be forced to shut down their tobacco retail websites and either conduct business as a B&M retailer (if they don't already) or go out of business. For pipe smokers, it will mean having to drive to a pipe tobacco retail store in order to buy your pipes, tobacco, and accessories. Of course, buying products in a B&M retail store also means your costs go up because you'll be required to pay sales tax on all of your purchases -- something you avoid when you buy online.
So, if H.R. 2339 passes, the bill is a win-win for the government (FDA and the states) and corporate tobacco retailers. But, it's a total loser for small B&M retailers who rely on internet sales to keep their doors open, retailers that only have an online presence, and you, the customer. If you haven't contacted your Congressional representatives yet, now is the time to do so and let them know how strongly you oppose H.R. 2339!
Happy Piping!
Sean
The Story Teller>>
I understand what your saying about "license for B&M to rob and pillage." But I have a different opinion on that. The on-line retailers are able to sell at lower prices than a B&M because they deal in higher quantities of product than a local B&M. The larger on-line retailers - because they can order say a 1,000 tins of a blend - can get a wholesale price break. How big of a price break? I saw an invoice at a small B&M recently and his wholesale price was about the same as the on-line retailer selling price. Basically, the B&M is having to pay the same price you and I pay when buying on-line.
On top of that, while the on-line retailer does have overhead costs, because of the size of the operation the overhead costs are spread out thinner. The following is a simplistic look but I think its accurate:
The grocery side of Walmart needs to buy canned corn to stock the shelves. The go to the can corn producer and says, "We are going to order 10,000 cases of can corn, how big of a bulk discount are you going to give me?" The can corn producer says, "Our wholesale price is $15 per case but since Walmart is buying 10,000 cases, we will drop the price to $10 a case." The cost to the local independent store is 50% higher. How does this affect the consumer? Walmart is basically paying 41¢ a can and selling it at 69¢ a can while the local store is paying 62¢ a can and having to sell it 90¢ a can for the same gross profit. And that's before any thought of overhead costs are added into the equation.
Everything else you said, I pretty much agree with.