Smoking Bans | Reason Archives (original) (raw)
We Were Wrong To Panic About Secondhand Smoke
A recent American Cancer Society study reports a negligible risk from passive smoking, shedding new light on the uproar over a 2003 paper.
Geoffrey Kabat | 10.16.2024 2:45 PM
To Get Through the Election, Smoke a Cigarette
This election is all about pursuing short-term political highs while willfully ignoring long-term problems. What could pair better with that than a cigarette?
Christian Britschgi | 10.11.2024 11:40 AM
8 Years After Legalizing Pot, California Will Finally Allow Cannabis Cafés
The new law should help licensed retailers compete with the black market while mitigating the odor that offends Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.
Jacob Sullum | 10.1.2024 5:00 PM
Brickbat: Up in Smoke
Charles Oliver | 9.9.2024 4:00 AM
Banning Flavored Tobacco Products Doesn't Work—We Have the Trash To Prove It
Researchers examined garbage placed in public receptacles in Washington, D.C., and New York City and found that the locales’ bans on flavored tobacco products have unquestionably failed.
Sofia Hamilton | 6.23.2024 7:00 AM
The Deadly Tobacco Drug War Down Under
Australia’s Prohibition-style attempts to abolish nicotine use have predictably led to a new drug war being fought over a legal substance.
Jacob Grier | 6.17.2024 7:00 AM
Brickbat: Grounded Already
Charles Oliver | 2.22.2024 4:00 AM
Repeal Day Lessons for Tobacco Prohibitionists
Today’s nicotine prohibitionists may do well to take a few moments to contemplate their anti-alcohol predecessors.
Jacob Grier | 12.5.2023 12:30 PM
Irish Prison for Edgelords and Hotheads?
Plus: Repealing tobacco bans, UN pointlessness, Substack's "Nazi problem," and more…
Liz Wolfe | 11.29.2023 9:30 AM
Youth Smoking Nears Zero
But Biden still wants to ban menthols to protect kids.
Guy Bentley | 11.2.2023 3:00 PM
Take It From Brazil, Biden's Ban on Flavored Cigarettes and Cigars Will Be a Disaster
Brazil now has one of the largest cigarette markets in the world, despite its efforts to rid the country of cigarettes through prohibition.
Joseph Bouchard | 11.2.2023 7:00 AM
California Gov. Gavin Newsom Nixes Psychedelic Decriminalization and Cannabis Cafés
Newsom vetoed both reforms, which he deemed excessively permissive.
Jacob Sullum | 10.12.2023 2:55 PM
Rishi Sunak To Ban Cigarettes for Brits
The U.K.’s “conservative” prime minister wants to prohibit people born in 2009 and later from buying cigarettes—forever.
Guy Bentley | 10.4.2023 1:35 PM
How Bans on Flavored Vapes Could Increase Teen Smoking
Well-intentioned restricitons on selling vaping products with non-tobacco flavors could have dire unintended consequences.
Jonathan H. Adler |The Volokh Conspiracy | 9.28.2023 6:07 PM
American Lung Association Demands the FDA Mislead the Public About Vaping
Providing accurate information about the risks of different nicotine products is long overdue.
Guy Bentley | 9.5.2023 3:00 PM
Premium Cigars Escape FDA Regulation for Now
The FDA failed to consider whether premium cigars warranted a different regulatory approach than cigarettes.
Jacob Grier | 8.11.2023 2:00 PM
Massachusetts' Tobacco Ban Went as Badly as You'd Expect
And now the state thinks it needs to crack down even more.
Jacob Grier | 3.9.2023 12:05 PM
Biden's Anti-Vaping Policies Undermine Cancer Moonshot
To reduce cancer deaths, Biden should stop restricting safer nicotine alternatives.
Guy Bentley | 2.8.2023 3:05 PM
Oregon's Anti-Vape Laws Will Put This Deaf Immigrant's Hookah Shop Out of Business
You can smoke all the pot you want, but flavored tobacco or nicotine is soon to be illegal.
Jacob Grier | 12.9.2022 4:45 PM
Raise a Glass and Donate to Reason To Keep the Prohibitionists From Winning
Your tax-deductible support helps us make the case against today's overbearing nanny state.
Peter Suderman | 12.5.2022 10:00 AM
Will Californians Overrule the State's Intrusive Flavored Tobacco Ban?
Voters have shown a propensity to veto the meddlesome efforts of lawmakers in the past.
Scott Shackford | 10.26.2022 3:15 PM
California Lawmakers Are Being Hypocritical About 'Harm Reduction' Policies
The state is prioritizing harm-reduction approaches for drug users. That's great. So why are lawmakers taking a maximalist approach to punishing smokers?
Steven Greenhut | 8.26.2022 8:00 AM
Brickbat: That Smell
Charles Oliver | 6.29.2022 4:00 AM
In a Surprise Move, the FDA Denies Approval for Juul Tobacco and Menthol Vapes
What was once a classic Silicon Valley success story has become the victim of an intensely ideological war on nicotine.
Guy Bentley | 6.22.2022 11:58 AM
Mandating Low-Nicotine Cigarettes Could Make Smoking More Dangerous
Plus: Supreme Court rules on school choice and criminal justice reform, Louisiana's trigger law criminalizes abortion at any stage, and more...
Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 6.22.2022 9:30 AM
Anti-Vaping Hysteria Is Deadly
We're repeating the mistakes of the war on drugs.
Natalie Dowzicky and Danielle Thompson | 5.16.2022 9:30 AM
California Is Forcing Smokers To Buy More Dangerous Products
Banning less harmful tobacco alternatives is not a way to improve public health.
Steven Greenhut | 5.6.2022 8:30 AM
FDA Case for Menthol Ban Undermined by New Study
Menthols aren’t harder to quit than other cigarettes.
Guy Bentley | 4.27.2022 2:55 PM
Brickbat: Smoke 'Em While You've Still Got 'Em
Charles Oliver | 12.16.2021 4:00 AM
Two More California Cities Preparing To Ban Flavored Tobacco and Vape Products
After San Francisco approved a similar ban, teen smoking rates increased.
Eric Boehm | 9.6.2021 9:00 AM
The FDA Is Set To Unintentionally Push Quitters Back to Smoking
Instead of trusting the science, the FDA will treat adults like children.
Jacob Grier | 9.3.2021 2:45 PM
Anti-Tobacco Scientists Warn Benefits of E-Cigarettes Are Being Lost
Government and the media aren't paying attention to the relative benefits of vaping over smoking tobacco.
Guy Bentley | 8.20.2021 11:00 AM
Cigars Aren't Cigarettes. A New Bill Proposes That the FDA Regulate Them Accordingly.
A bipartisan bill in Congress seeks to get the FDA out of the premium cigar industry.
Ella Lubell | 6.29.2021 9:57 AM
Teen Cigarette Smoking Went Up Following Flavored Tobacco Ban
Plus: Debate over critical race theory bans, Oklahoma City takes on major occupational licensing reform, and more...
Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 5.26.2021 9:32 AM
A Ban on Menthol Cigarettes Will Lead to More Confrontations Between Black People and Police
If public health scolds get their way, they will worsen the nation’s overcriminalization problem.
Jacob Grier | 4.26.2021 4:00 PM
The FDA's War on Nicotine Will Encourage Americans To Smoke More Cigarettes
America's public health officials continue to undermine public health.
Eric Boehm | 4.20.2021 2:40 PM
Menthol Cigarette Bans Will Fail Like Every Other Prohibition Scheme
The winners in every battle over restrictions are the people who do whatever they please without regard for government officials.
J.D. Tuccille | 2.12.2021 12:20 PM
This California City Will Let the Neighbors Sue You for Vaping on Your Own Balcony
Concord's ban on smoking and vaping in private apartments allows residents to take civil action against their neighbors for violating the policy.
Christian Britschgi | 12.29.2020 10:10 AM
San Francisco Board of Supervisors Passes Ban on Smoking Tobacco, but Not Cannabis, in Private Apartments
Violators face fines of up to $1,000.
Christian Britschgi | 12.3.2020 3:50 PM
San Francisco Considers $1,000 Fines for People Smoking Tobacco or Cannabis in Their Apartments
A bill under consideration by the city's Board of Supervisors would ban smoking in private dwellings located in apartment buildings with three or more units.
Christian Britschgi | 11.13.2020 3:25 PM
Brickbat: A Man's Home Is His Castle
Charles Oliver | 2.28.2020 4:00 AM
Gaze Upon the Worst Anti-Vaping Poster Ever and Despair
The great state of New Jersey idiotically compares vaping to jumping out of an airplane without a parachute.
Nick Gillespie | 1.14.2020 4:25 PM
How Truth Became a Casualty of the War on Smoking
Different types of nicotine consumption pose different amounts of risk.
Jacob Sullum | 1.11.2020 6:00 AM
Anti-Vaping Panic Will Kill More People Than it Saves
E-cigarettes are under attack, but they are a safer way to consume nicotine than conventional smoking, says Jacob Sullum.
Nick Gillespie | 1.1.2020 9:50 AM
How Vaping 'Might Just Save Your Life!'
In the panic to ban and regulate electronic cigarettes, media and politicians are ignoring the benefits of vaping.
Nick Gillespie, Justin Monticello, and Jacob Sullum | 12.26.2019 2:55 PM
House-Passed Budget Deal Raises Age To Buy Cigarettes to 21
The legislation would also prevent those under 21 from purchasing vaping products.
Christian Britschgi | 12.18.2019 2:25 PM
The Vaping Crisis Is a Moral Panic Led by Anti-Smoking Crusaders
Anti-smoking advocacy groups have a long history of exploiting shoddy science for political gain.
Jacob Grier | 10.14.2019 10:56 AM
San Francisco's Top Economist Confirms Vape Ban Means More Smoking
The city is banning e-cigarettes while actual cigarettes remain legal.
Guy Bentley | 7.15.2019 8:45 AM