You’re a high ranking government official, maybe in the Department of Health.
Millions of your citizens, responsibility for which has been thrust into your incompetent hands for reasons you cannot possibly fathom, are in the habit of enjoying an object that whilst giving them pleasure, is generally considered addictive, cancerous, anti-social, costs the tax payer billions a year (regardless of how much said habit draws in), and is just down right gross. As an oh-so-honourably intentioned health minister, you no doubt want to wean people out of this habit, yes? Ah, but it’s a nice little earner for you and your underlings, so let’s leave it be.
But wait! Thanks to human ingenuity and entrepreneurship, there’s an alternative that, in the long run, doesn’t cost so much, is much cleaner since it emits a vapour rather than smoke, thus avoiding all that nasty second hand stuff, and, some say, is healthier for the user. On top of this, it STILL gives the user the dosage of the drug he wants so much, whilst harming no one else. It could save the country billions, not only in health care costs, but also in terms of helping to save the pubs that are dying to due the ban on the older product. It’s a win-win-win situation.
Ok. So. You’re the Health Minister. What do you do?
Isn’t it obvious?
You ban it. Through the backdoor, of course, you don’t want to scare people. Put the lobster in the pot whilst the water’s cold…
This would require all currently unlicensed NCPs on the market, such as electronic cigarettes containing nicotine and nicotine gels, to apply to the MHRA for a medicines Marketing Authorisation (MA).
Given that these Regulations do not make explicit provisions for a staged withdrawal from the market of an
unlicensed medicinal product, immediate cessation of the sale or supply is usually required
by the Agency, with written confirmation of the same within 21 days.
And so it begins, the unnecessary regulation of a perfectly good consumer good, which starts with something as simple as “Oh, we just want you to follow a few small rules… or we’ll shut you down”, and before you know it, poof- they’re all gone from the shelves.
Merely baby steps to an outright removal of these cleaner, safer, but worst of all for the Righteous*, untaxed products.
H/T Charlotte Gore. The Twatter, not the blogger, of which she is not one anymore.
*TM Leg-Iron.
