Consistency is key

Ralph Waldo Emerson said “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”

When it comes to getting states to adopt cigarette fire safety bills, we don’t think our devotion to consistency among the states is foolish. Until the tobacco companies concede the inevitable and sell reduced ignition cigarettes in all 50 states, Washington, DC, and U.S. territories and protectorates, we will push, state by state, to achieve a de facto national standard.

And consistency is key.

It’s no secret that we’re trying to import the New York cigarette fire safety test, standard and regulation to each state. Canada was impressed enough with New York’s law that it adopted it, as have Vermont, California — and hopefully very soon Illinois and New Hampshire.

Our goal is not to bedevil the industry with a patchwork of different standards, but rather to make it easy for them to do what they’re already doing in New York and Vermont: sell cigarettes that have been shown to be much less likely to cause fires.

Consumer and fire safety advocates are doing what a supine Congress has proven unwilling to do: make cigarettes less fire prone. Given the hammerlock that the tobacco industry historically has applied to Congress, the further our federal government stays away from this issue (and many other product safety, consumer protection and environmental health issues), the better.

So we move forward, state by state, working to adopt laws that are consistent in their key ingredients — same test, same standard, same pass rate, same quality standards for labs, marking requirements, etc. At some point, the cigarette makers will realize that the economies of production dictate making fire safe cigarettes for each market, regardless of the laws on the books.

Until that time, we move forward, in judicious consistency, until we win.

Russ Haven
Legislative Counsel
New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG)