They’re at it again! Those wonderful law makers of ours who absolutely, under no circumstances cannot trust us to be adults and make adult decisions about our lives. Starting July 1^st, 2013, Florida will have a fun new law that, according to the text, makes it “unlawful for a person to knowingly and willfully sell or offer for sale [or purchase or possess] at retail any drug paraphernalia described in s. 893.145(12)(a)-(c) or (g)-(m), other than a pipe that is primarily made of briar, meerschaum, clay or corn cob”.

Violate this twice and it is a felony. That means it will take away your right to vote.

Let’s break this down.

First on how this impacts pipe smokers in Florida. I am grateful that the lawmakers were smart enough to include four of the major materials of tobacco pipe. Thank you. However, those certainly aren’t the only materials. I know people who do great work making metal pipes. What about olive-wood or cherry-wood? It seems to violate the law if it is sold in a retail shop. That’s absurd.

Now, let’s look at this from the “we’re supposed to be adults” perspective. This bill bans glass, metal, stone, ceramic pipes, and water pipes (which someone could easily extend to hookahs). Let me make this very clear: it is now (well, will be in July) illegal to sell a piece of glass with two holes on opposite sides. A piece of glass with no malicious intent in its creation is now illegal to sell.

Look, I’m not here to speak out in favor of selling, buying, or partaking in illegal drugs. But something that can be used for illegal purposes should not, vicariously, become illegal to sell. I could easily purchase a glass pipe simply because I think it is pretty or even to smoke tobacco out of because I’m strange.

What do law makers honestly think this will accomplish? Certainly they cannot think that it will lessen drug use. I promise you that there are other ways to accomplish their goals.

Personally, I think it is just the first step to being able to crack down on all devices for burning a burning substance. What is to stop a law maker from suddenly asserting, “These deviants are now using meerschaum pipes for their illegal hobbies”? That would be the end of meerschaum in Florida. After all, the only reason glass pipes got banned is people used it to smoke cannabis. Therefore, if people start using meerschaum for cannabis – or if a law maker even says that they do – there could easily be an amendment to this making meerschaum or clay illegal.

This law is as dangerous as it is pointless. I will repeat a call I made a while ago. It’s fine to become angry about something that you view as injustice, but it is important to actually make your voice heard. Don’t be a silent victim.

Read it for yourself. What do you think?

It’s here again! That magical time of year when people from all different stripes come together and unite around their one common passion: tobacco. Yes, May 31^st, that beautiful day when we come together to celebrate…wait, that’s not right. May 31^st is the day we come together to try to rid ourselves of tobacco. That’s right: World No Tobacco Day.

Every year on May 31^st, the World Health Organization (WHO) promotes World No Tobacco Day, a day where it encourages everyone to abstain from all forms of tobacco use for 24 hours. Why, you might ask? To draw attention to the “widespread prevalence of tobacco use and to the negative health effects of using tobacco products” (Euronews) and to attempt to limit the advertisement for tobacco. The WHO says that it wants to eliminate tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship, or TAPS.

Among the reasons the WHO says that TAPS should be banned is second-hand smoke, evidence that lowering advertising reduces consumption, and the amount of deaths related to tobacco. I, however, have a problem with World No Tobacco Day, go figure.

Tobacco products currently lead to an approximated 5.4 million deaths annually worldwide. In 2011, however, the WHO also said that alcohol leads to around 2.5 million deaths each year. If 5.4 million gets tobacco a full day, 2.5 million should at least get half a day from the WHO where they encourage everyone to give up the sauce and try to prevent all advertisement and promotion on the part of alcohol companies. Oh, wait. That doesn’t happen.

Budweiser is one of the largest sponsors of sporting events in the world, but I haven’t heard a peep out of the WHO about stopping them from doing so. After all, if Budweiser weren’t able to sponsor anything, NASCAR would disappear…hey, I’m starting to like this idea.

It is frighteningly hypocritical for the WHO to say that tobacco is evil and must be snuffed out while happily sipping on their cosmos after a long day at work. Sure, many people say that second-hand smoke is what makes the difference. But what about drunk driving? Both second-hand smoke and drunk driving impact someone other than the user. Here’s the difference: inhaling second-hand smoke might have a negative repercussion one day; getting his by a drunk driver will have a negative repercussion today.

I am in no way encouraging banning alcohol advertisements or alcohol itself. After all, we tried doing that once. It worked wonderfully, only creating an underground crime scene and not reducing alcohol consumption by any significant margin.

Where are the people jumping in to support World No Alcohol Day? Where are the people crying foul when they see Budweiser advertised at their local ballpark? You want to know where they are? They’re drinking a beer. They’re drinking a beer responsibly because they are intelligent enough to see that there is a difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol consumption.

We are all, I would assume, against drunk driving and using alcohol enough to cause permanent damage and becoming dependent on it. But we also see the value of moderation and the difference between taking twelve shots at a bar and drinking a glass of wine with your wife.

That is the same difference between smoking three packs a day and enjoying the occasional cigar or pipe or even cigarette. Moderation.

Personally, though, I don’t care if you choose to take twelve shots at a bar or smoke three packs a day. Just don’t drive after you do it and don’t blow it in my face. Other than that, it’s your life. You’re an adult and I am going to treat you like one. I only ask that you afford me the same respect.