This didn’t take long. The FDA is now pursuing online sites that are still selling flavored cigarettes. The FDA is specifically enforcing the “cigarette ban provision of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act) by issuing several warning letters to companies continuing to sell illegal flavored cigarettes to consumers in the United States through their Web sites.”

Flavored cigarettes were banned around the 22nd of September, so it’s been a good month and some change for these companies to get their products in order. Right now, pretty much any cigarettes with flavor in them are illegal. Flavored cigars may or may not be included, depending on who’s interpreting the law at the moment.

What really gets me is the justification for this ban. Lawrence R. Deyton, M.S.P.H, M.D., director of FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products said in the release that the… “FDA takes the enforcement of this flavored cigarette ban seriously. These actions should send a clear message to those who continue to break the law that FDA will take necessary actions to protect our children from initiating tobacco use.”

So…. if this is for the kids, how about a real simple solution. ID everyone buying tobacco. Wouldn’t that solve the whole problem? Leave the flavored cigs to the few adults who like them, and just bust the people selling them to children. Doesn’t that work for regular tobacco? And alcohol?

Anyhow, I ranted about this already when it first popped up. I’ll push the horse back into the closet now.

Oh, and if you look at the link that shows the sites that got the warning from the FDA about selling the flavored cigarettes? When I checked, most of them were 404… completely gone.

Here’s the link to the official FDA warning / recall.