The End of Flavored Blunts?

By COED Staff

Yesterday, President Obama signed into law a anti-tobacco bill, which will make the distribution of flavored cigarettes illegal. The law is intended to limit tobacco products being “marketed to children”, but this could also signal the end to something any pot smoker holds dear: flavored blunts.

Now, the wording of the bill seems to specifically target “cigarettes,” not cigars or tobacco wraps. But it doesn’t take much to imagine a judge ruling that flavored cigars and tobacco wraps qualify just as much as cigarettes do. And if that happens, it will be a sad day in Pot Town. Here’s what the bill says:

1) RESTRICTIONS ON DESCRIPTORS USED IN MARKETING OF CIGARETTES-

(A) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in subparagraph (B), no person shall use, with respect to any cigarette brand style commercially distributed domestically, on the portion of the package of such cigarette brand style that customarily is visible to consumers before purchase, or in advertising of such cigarette brand style any of the following as a descriptor of any cigarette brand style–

(i) the name of any candy or fruit;

(ii) the word ‘candy,’ ‘citrus,’ ‘cream,’ ‘fruit,’ ‘sugar,’ ‘sweet,’ ‘tangy,’ or ‘tart,’; or

(iii) any extension or variation of any of the words ‘candy,’ ‘citrus,’ ‘cream,’ ‘fruit,’ ‘sugar,’ ‘sweet,’ ‘tangy,’ or ‘tart,’ including but not limited to ‘creamy,’ or ‘fruity.’

(B) LIMITATION- Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the use of the following words or to any extension or variation of any of them: ‘coffee,’ ‘mint,’ and ‘menthol’.

(C) SCENTED MATERIALS- No person shall use, in the advertising or labeling of any cigarette commercially distributed domestically, any scented materials, except in an adult-only facility.

(D) DEFINITIONS- In this section:

(i) The term ‘candy’ means a confection made from sugar or sugar substitute, including any confection identified generically or by brand, and shall include the words ‘cacao,’ ‘chocolate,’ ‘cinnamon,’ ‘cocoa,’ ‘honey,’ ‘licorice,’ ‘maple,’ ‘mocha,’ and ‘vanilla.’

(ii) The term ‘fruit’ means any fruit identified by generic name, type, or variety, including but not limited to ‘apple,’ ‘banana,’ ‘cherry,’ and ‘orange.’ The term ‘fruit’ does not include words that identify seeds, nuts or peppers, or types or varieties thereof or words that are extensions or variations of such words.” [via: GovTrack]