(This is a public service announcement)
It is that time of year again when the holidays are upon us, and many of us Americans (and around the world) will be celebrating with alcohol and/or other substances. We at Twenty-One Debunked would like to remind everyone to be safe and celebrate responsibly. There is absolutely no excuse for drunk driving at any age, period. We cannot stress this enough. It's very simple--if you plan to drive, don't drink, and if you plan to drink, don't drive. It's really not rocket science, folks. And there are numerous ways to avoid mixing the two. Designate a sober driver, take a cab, use public transportation, crash on the couch, or even walk if you have to. Or stay home and celebrate there. Or don't drink--nobody's got a gun to your head. Seriously. And the same goes for other psychoactive substances as well, and a fortiori when combined with alcohol.
ARRIVE ALIVE, DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE!!! If you plan to drink, don't forget to think! The life you save may very well be your own.
Sunday, December 22, 2019
Saturday, December 21, 2019
The Federal Smoking And Vaping Age Has Been Raised To 21
Well, it's now official. As part of a must-pass budget bill to avoid yet another government shutdown, Congress attached several provisions unrelated to spending, most notably a rider that hikes the federal age limit for the sale of tobacco and vape products from 18 to 21 nationwide. And on December 20, 2019, Trump signed it into law, and even had the GALL to brag-tweet about it. And while Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch "Awkward Turtle" McConnell, a big supporter of the age limit hike, was no doubt very pleased with himself for his "victory", we need to remember that both duopoly parties overwhelmingly supported it. Tyranny is apparently as bipartisan as it is whimisical--and very cowardly as well.
For practical purposes, the new age limit actually takes effect after 180 days plus an additional 90 days, meaning an effective delay of nine months from the date of signing. Thus, by September 2020, Tobacco 21 will have been fully phased in nationwide.
The text of the new federal Tobacco 21 law does two things: 1) amends the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2019 by changing "18" to "21", and 2) while it technically no longer forces states to change their own laws (unlike the original version), nonetheless amends what was once called the Synar Amendment by requiring states to enforce (against vendors) the new federal age limit of 21 for the sale of tobacco and vape products, in order to quailfy for certain substance abuse prevention grant monies.
Though weaker than its original version, it is that second provision that may prove to be the Achilles heel of this law if it were to be challenged in court, on both Tenth Amendment as well as Fourteenth Amendment. And if such a challenge ever proves successful, it will no doubt also overturn South Dakota v. Dole, and the National Minimum Drinking Age Act along with it. But until then, it is long past time to be very, very angry at what passes for "leadership" in America's long, dark night of the soul.
Winter is coming, in more ways than one.
UPDATE: Looks like the FDA isn't wasting any time in raising the tobacco and vape product sale age to 21. As of December 27, 2019, they officially noted on their website that it is now illegal to sell tobacco or vape products to anyone under 21. FEH.
For practical purposes, the new age limit actually takes effect after 180 days plus an additional 90 days, meaning an effective delay of nine months from the date of signing. Thus, by September 2020, Tobacco 21 will have been fully phased in nationwide.
The text of the new federal Tobacco 21 law does two things: 1) amends the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2019 by changing "18" to "21", and 2) while it technically no longer forces states to change their own laws (unlike the original version), nonetheless amends what was once called the Synar Amendment by requiring states to enforce (against vendors) the new federal age limit of 21 for the sale of tobacco and vape products, in order to quailfy for certain substance abuse prevention grant monies.
Though weaker than its original version, it is that second provision that may prove to be the Achilles heel of this law if it were to be challenged in court, on both Tenth Amendment as well as Fourteenth Amendment. And if such a challenge ever proves successful, it will no doubt also overturn South Dakota v. Dole, and the National Minimum Drinking Age Act along with it. But until then, it is long past time to be very, very angry at what passes for "leadership" in America's long, dark night of the soul.
Winter is coming, in more ways than one.
UPDATE: Looks like the FDA isn't wasting any time in raising the tobacco and vape product sale age to 21. As of December 27, 2019, they officially noted on their website that it is now illegal to sell tobacco or vape products to anyone under 21. FEH.
Sunday, December 15, 2019
The Anti-Legalization Movement Is Grasping At Straws Now
The anti-legalization movement in regards to cannabis has been getting quite desperate lately. For example, Kevin Sabet of the anti-legalization group Project SAM has lately been disingenuously harping on the mystery vaping illness (now called EVALI) and shifting the spotlight onto legal cannabis vape products from licensed dispensaries while glossing over that inconvenient fact that the vast, vast, majority of the over 2000 EVALI cases so far are linked to black-market and counterfeit THC vape cartridges (as well as sketchy gray-market CBD vape cartridges). In fact, non-legalization states have had far more EVALI cases than legalization states, though no state seems to be immune to it. And the primary culprit appears to be Vitamin E Acetate (and possibly other questionable additives), and perhaps even the heavy metals from janky devices, as opposed to the actual cannabis itself, though he slyly glosses over that as well. The biggest irony, of course, is that banning legal cannabis dispensaries will only drive even more consumers to the black market, thus pouring gasoline on the raging fires of EVALI.
In other words, Kevin Sabet and Project SAM are nothing more than concern trolls, and need to be taken with at least a grain of salt, if not a whole pound. While there have been a few outlier cases of EVALI ostensibly linked to legal cannabis products from licensed dispensaries in some states, most of these cases remain either unconfirmed and/or the use of black market, counterfeit, or modified vape products has not been entirely ruled out in such cases. To the extent that any of these are in fact caused by rogue and adulterated products from bad actors in the legitimate cannabis market, the solution is better regulation and oversight, NOT prohbition.
(In the meantime, it is probably best for the time being for current cannabis vapers to switch to dry-herb vaporizers, which have never been linked to EVALI or any other illness, to vape regular weed if you don't want to smoke it, just to be on the safe side. Or at the very least, do your research and due diligence, and avoid all black-market, counterfeit, janky, suspect, and/or modified products like the plague. And there are also edibles and tinctures.)
Oh and by the way, the anti-legalization movement is apparently also tainted with some thinly- and not-so-thinly-veiled anti-Semitism as well. Not everyone of course, but as the Labour Party in the UK has unfortunately learned the hard way, failing to condemn it, turning a blind eye to it, or even creating a mere perception of same, has the same impact as deliberate and overt Jew-hatred and Jew-baiting does, and we know impact > intent. And of course, the anti-Semitism in the broader cannabis prohibitionist movement goes back to at least Nixon and his notorious red-baiting and Jew-baiting conspiracy theories, while the movement's virulent racism and xenophobia in general goes all the way back to the very genesis of the movement over a century ago.
To be fair, there is no evidence that Kevin Sabet (or Project SAM in general) personally holds any anti-Semitic or racist views, with their only known bigotry being against cannabis and its users. But in the broader cannabis prohibitionist movement today, others like Roger Morgan et al. DO apparently hold enough anti-Semitic views to be willing to openly repeat (if not concoct) long-since debunked anti-Semitic conspiracy theories (mainly involving George Soros) all the same, and the silence from Sabet and Project SAM (who just so happen to also share a connection with Morgan) is truly deafening indeed.
To the cannabis prohibitionist / anti-legalization movement, we have one question for you: how does it feel to be on the wrong side of history? Because we wouldn't know anything about that.
In other words, Kevin Sabet and Project SAM are nothing more than concern trolls, and need to be taken with at least a grain of salt, if not a whole pound. While there have been a few outlier cases of EVALI ostensibly linked to legal cannabis products from licensed dispensaries in some states, most of these cases remain either unconfirmed and/or the use of black market, counterfeit, or modified vape products has not been entirely ruled out in such cases. To the extent that any of these are in fact caused by rogue and adulterated products from bad actors in the legitimate cannabis market, the solution is better regulation and oversight, NOT prohbition.
(In the meantime, it is probably best for the time being for current cannabis vapers to switch to dry-herb vaporizers, which have never been linked to EVALI or any other illness, to vape regular weed if you don't want to smoke it, just to be on the safe side. Or at the very least, do your research and due diligence, and avoid all black-market, counterfeit, janky, suspect, and/or modified products like the plague. And there are also edibles and tinctures.)
Oh and by the way, the anti-legalization movement is apparently also tainted with some thinly- and not-so-thinly-veiled anti-Semitism as well. Not everyone of course, but as the Labour Party in the UK has unfortunately learned the hard way, failing to condemn it, turning a blind eye to it, or even creating a mere perception of same, has the same impact as deliberate and overt Jew-hatred and Jew-baiting does, and we know impact > intent. And of course, the anti-Semitism in the broader cannabis prohibitionist movement goes back to at least Nixon and his notorious red-baiting and Jew-baiting conspiracy theories, while the movement's virulent racism and xenophobia in general goes all the way back to the very genesis of the movement over a century ago.
To be fair, there is no evidence that Kevin Sabet (or Project SAM in general) personally holds any anti-Semitic or racist views, with their only known bigotry being against cannabis and its users. But in the broader cannabis prohibitionist movement today, others like Roger Morgan et al. DO apparently hold enough anti-Semitic views to be willing to openly repeat (if not concoct) long-since debunked anti-Semitic conspiracy theories (mainly involving George Soros) all the same, and the silence from Sabet and Project SAM (who just so happen to also share a connection with Morgan) is truly deafening indeed.
To the cannabis prohibitionist / anti-legalization movement, we have one question for you: how does it feel to be on the wrong side of history? Because we wouldn't know anything about that.
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