The nanny state is in vogue again, this time in, of all places, Buffalo, New York. The Buffalo News reports that the Buffalo City Council gave preliminary approval to a proposal that would severely limit the sale, distribution, and advertising of tobacco products within the city. Specifically, the proposal would restrict the size and the location of tobacco advertisements at retail stores and near schools. Additionally, the proposal would impose a fee on tobacco product manufacturers for each product brand they sell within the city. These fees will raise an estimated $300,000 per year for the City.
What strikes me as odd about this proposal is how it duplicates so much of current law. For example, the federal government is already pursuing new regulations on tobacco advertising, retailers are already required (on penalty of losing their licenses) to obtain proof of age when they sell tobacco products to suspected minors, and the State of New York already levies the highest cigarette tax rate in the nation at $4.35 per pack. What, exactly, is Buffalo hoping to regulate that federal and state regulations do not?
Simply adding regulation upon regulation that duplicates what the federal and state governments already do, and extending the reach of the nanny state into our lives, does not make much sense to me. Let’s hope that the City Council finds some sense as it continues to hear comments on the proposal and draft the implementing ordinance.