The tabacco industry has always been a favorite target of big government, but now the war against the industry has gone into absurd territory.

Over six years ago, an act was passed that stopped the tobacco industry from marketing to kids, as well as some labeling requirements. However, including in the bill was the very open ended phrase ““to take further action in the future to protect public health.”

Naturally, any invite the government has to push more regulation will be taken advantage of. It’s what a government does. In this case, the government is taking the opportunity to expand it’s reach by going after a beloved past time, smoking cigars.

Thank God these unelected officials of the government are here to stop us from having a good time.

Apparently, the FDA will enact measures that will cause cigar prices to go up, as well as take some of the special editions we enjoy off the shelves. As Jazz Shaw of HotAir points out, this is kind of a wasted effort that almost has nothing to do with the original intent of the bill.

Cigars reach an entirely different market for the most part and aren’t really the go-to choice for people just looking for a nicotine fix. The ones which are even marginally palatable cost more than cigarettes and you need more time (and space) to enjoy one. The packaging tends to be entirely different also. Enforcing these labeling rules is going to put a major hitch in the manufacturing process and may well drive some smaller producers out of an already difficult market.

What’s more, this legislation won’t do much to secure the health of the nation, not that it’s any of the Fed’s business anyway. In doing so, all they’re doing is hurting businesses, and making the pleasure of smoking a cigar a less likely activity for lower income wage earners.

In short, there’s no reason for the FDA to do this. It just deprives another pleasure from the working class, and serves to damage private enterprise.