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The Next BloomBan: New York Mayor Seeks To Ban Cigarette Displays In Retail Stores
Still smarting from his humiliating defeat in court (pending appeal) to ban "large sugary drinks" (because just like in Cyprus nobody can possibly conceive of opening ten €100K accounts instead of one for €1 million, and nobody will buy two 16 oz drinks instead of one 32 oz), Mayor Bloomberg has set his sights on his next nanny state crusade: a proposal banning retail stores from displaying cigarettes as part of his effort to reduce smoking rates in the city. From Reuters: "Bloomberg, who has taken aggressive steps to curb smoking in public places and promote health with various restrictions on restaurants, plans to introduce to the City Council on Wednesday two bills that would require retailers to keep cigarettes in a drawer or other concealed location. "Young people are targets of marketing and the availability of cigarettes, and this legislation will help prevent another generation from the ill health and shorter life expectancy that comes with smoking."
It appears that in the billionaire mayor's head, it is the "prominent" display of cigarettes in retail stores that make young people start smoking. Perhaps if Mayor Mike is so concerned about young impressionable people inhaling carcinogens, he will finally enact prohibition to (ab)use EBT cards for cigarette purchases, not to mention paying for booze and lap dances with food stamps. But then again, those are potential votes, and nobody wants to lose a key block of one's electorate.
More from Reuters:
Stores would still be allowed to advertise and display pricing information for the tobacco products they sell, but the actual products would have to be hidden from public view except during a sale or during restocking.
The legislation would also increase the penalties on stores that illegally resell cigarettes smuggled in from states with lower tobacco taxes and would prohibit retailers from redeeming discount coupons on tobacco sales.
Bloomberg expects to have the council's support, although a vote was not expected immediately, a spokeswoman for the mayor said.
New York City already bans smoking in most offices, restaurants, bars, parks and beaches. Bloomberg has also taken steps to curtail the use of trans fats and salt in the city's restaurants. Last week a court struck down his attempt to limit the size of sugary drinks.
There will be, of course, exemptions:
Tobacco specialty stores, already banned from admitting customers
under the age of 18, would be exempt from the requirement on the display
of cigarettes.
And while this particular Bloomberg idea may not appear too confiscatory on the surface, one by one, more individual liberties are being subsumed by the great Orwellian monster, all in the name of the "greater good."
How long before all US deposits are involuntarily handed over, read confiscated, to a greater, and wiser, power? After all who knows better how to allocate saved capital and personal wealth than the Great American State?
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Bingo!... you nailed it.
Mike Bloomberg should have started at home and banned his daughters from fucking other trust fund kids on video in the Johnson's NJ house. Nice, Mr BB. Nice. Where was the supervision? Too busy on the Island?
Don't blame Jamie Johnson.
Jesus Christ - I just googled his kid - she looks like a fucking gelfling...
What did you expect ?? She's a jewess
Somebody seriously needs to kick his fucking ass.
Sociopaths are unaware of, and oblivious to, the fact that they are clinicaly insane. There exists no cure for sociopathy. So.......
This guys fuk'n ego is off the charts. What does he think he is some kind of savior or something? All he's doing is restricting commerce and creating business expense. That this dbag thinks NYC kids won't figure it out is laughable. Maybe he should focus on reducing taxes and making the city more business friendly.
In Alberta in Canada we have had a ban on cigarette displays for a couple years. It seems like a pretty usful tool in slowing down smoking. There is less of an impulse to buy, and prevents cigarette racks from being able to seen by children as well, thereby lessening the effect of its advertising potential.
I realize most here are libertarians, and I would say I agree with you in most aspects. However smoking has a negative effect on society, and anything to eliminate or reduce it is generally in the public interest, just as such when they banned smoking indoors. I can understand the counter point, however many here seem to overeggagerate and it really makes your argument look childish, and not to be taken very seriously.
as much as i despise the nanny state, cigarettes should be castigated fully - and most smokers are so arrogant about their filthy habit anyway that i have lost all tolerance for them....
Castigate all you want. Don't use force to make others conform to your preference.
Fuck you Bloomberg.
How the fuck did this stooge get elected mayor?
How do you think? He bought it and then just about appointed himself ruler for life. Sick fuck.
I think somebody's likely to smoke Bloomberg.
"and this legislation will help prevent another generation from the ill health and shorter life expectancy that comes with smoking."
It surly will help to inflame another generation against your ill ilk.
Thanks for the flowers, bloombarrow.
Doing God's work. Thanks Blooms we appreciate you taking care of us. You deserve the mayor of the century award.
Alas, Bloomberg has proven that no matter how much you think you have, money will never make you smart.
Bloomberg is synonymous with buffoon.
There is a similar law in BC . I never noticed the hash pipes there until the smokes were covered.
Yup... same ridiculous law in Alberta. Haven't we had just about enough of the insanity in law-making? I mean how f'king much more ridiculous can the bureaucracy get?
... bloomberg knows best, ...
He's nothing but a wannabe bankster.
Just wrap all the cigarette packs in porn magazines.
There, FIFY.
Well by God, if people can't be as smart as Bloomberg and other liberals are, then we'll make them so!
That is one loco Jew
"Nobody can have gunz, cigs, or big gulps except me."
Bloomberg the Pig
Smokers are just trying to mask the acrid, nauseating smell and taste of Manhattan's toxic air.
Will the cigarettes be put in a plain brown bag? To help cover the shame
Bloomberg is the perverse effect of 30 years of the financialization of society.
He made billions catering to that shift which hit its latest apex in the financial crisis. He rode the wave. Can anyone in finance say they don't want a BB terminal?
Now that he has more money than g--, metaphorically speaking, he believes that he is the higher power.
Rule # 1 : don't believe your own bullshit.
why not tax those dirty smokers and fat soda slurping slobs, theyre a burden on the healthcare system! Old people too!
Then there would be more money available to bailout the banks..
Can't you guys up there let him fall into a manhole and put the cover back on?
They need to ban smoking crack so doucheberg can stop already.
Everytime I go to NYC, I can't help but notice that the city is going through a major decline.
The roads are filled with pot holes and the bridges look like they are going to colapse at any moment. I was in the subway one day and a big chunck of concrete fell from the ceiling almost hitting a baby in a carriage. There are serious infrastructure problems here, not to mention the state of public schools here, with 80% leaving functionally illiterate.
Why isn't Bloomberg dealing with these major infrastructure and education issues rather than imposing his wishes on the population like that of a dictator or member of royalty? Worse, people seem to like and agree with him.
How about a movement in New York to ban Bloomberg News because it prints nothing more than propoganda and propoganda is bad for the uneducated?
Outlaw Big Macs & The Whopper.