Oh, come on, Governor Christie.
Longtime readers of PFoL may remember that I championed e-cigarettes as a healthier alternative to tobacco usage at odd points in the last year. I railed against the moral posture that equates the appearance of smoking with the act of smoking, and the logic being used to foist increased regulations upon weary, nicotine-craving consumers.
Increased regulations against e-cigarettes have a distinctly anti-science appeal, but what I may have failed to account for is how big a factor money is playing in all this.
The latest news from New Jersey is that ostensibly conservative Governor Chris Christie has proposed a new tax on the devices – devices which have not been shown to be harmful.
One begins to wonder just why His Ostensibleness would promote yet more nanny-statism, but a quick look at who is driving the opposition to these miraculous marvels of the 21st century (Full disclosure: I’m puffing one right…now) reveals that powerful lobbying interests may have the Governor’s nuts in a vise.
After all, anti-smoking isn’t just a popular moral crusade, it’s also a highly lucrative industry – with patches and gum and those irredeemably stupid Ynot commercials. Big Pharma seems to have adopted the same business model as Big Tobacco: get ‘em hooked, and keep ‘em hooked. Never mind that e-cigarettes might actually be a better way to help someone get away from tobacco usage.
Money and moralism seem to trump science and free markets, at least in Governor Christie’s New Jersey. As an aside, it’s worth mentioning that sin taxes like these almost always affect the poor more drastically than the better-off.
Way to look out for the little guy, Big Guy.