There are currently two major trade shows for the tobacco industry. One of these is Tobacco Plus Expo. This years TPE was held in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 3rd and 4th. They say that "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas". As far as snus and reduced harm/modified risk tobacco products go, this show should have never happened at all; in Las Vegas or anywhere else.

Attendance was down at Tobacco Plus Expo in 2009 compared to 2008. This was blamed by some on the show being in New Orleans which despite the scars of Katrina, is still a beautiful and haunting city to me.

Since Las Vegas is still the convention capital of the United States despite President Obama's pleas to Americans to "stop wasting their money in Las Vegas" (or even on vacations in general), the hosting city could not be blamed for the low turnout of both exhibitors and attendees.

Read more: Tobacco Plus Expo 2010 - An Underwhelming Experience

Being a fan of Phantom Blue portions and loose, I had for some unexplainable reason avoided Phantom Blue White portions. I finally threw 3 cans of White in my latest SnusCentral.com order. I then promptly avoided using them for 3 more weeks.  Turns out I may be psychic.

I was not expecting what I found when I opened them. After a day of loudly complaining to my family about the lack of quality control at V2, my adoring wife suggested I do something more than gripe. I then did something I rarely do. I took her advice.

I sent an email to Patrick Vogel of V2.  Marc Vogel answered and it led to a flurry of e-mails over the space of 2 days. Patrick is primarily responsible for the business and marketing side of V2.  His partner and brother Marc is primarily responsible for the actual making of the snus.

Read more: A Snus Horror Story

I've written a number of generally not favorable articles about Nordic American Smokeless (NAS) and their Nordic Ice and Klondike Snus products. This was do in large part to their dysfunctional relationship with then-NAS-owner Taboca A/S. My last Taboca/NAS article spelled out in ugly detail the end of their relationship.

Darren Quinn, the CEO of Nordic American, is revitalized now that Taboca A/S and their Board of Directors in Norway are no longer in the picture. He is aggressively re-launching the new NAS; coined Nordic American Smokeless Version 2 by yours truly. I will tell you there are some very fundamental differences apparent already. There are also challenges and unresolved issues facing Quinn and NAS v2. He was not shy in laying them out for me which is a huge departure in itself from the old NAS.

Read more: Nordic American Smokeless v2 - Is there Life after Taboca?

Welcome to the Nanny States of America; Part Two. In the first part of this series on tobacco tyranny, I painted a broad historical picture.  In this installment, I'm going to get more granular and address some of the more salient points regarding the use of taxes on tobacco, the structures placed upon we tobacco users, plus a couple of the regulations we are heretofore forced to comply with.

Let us start with the smoking bans: Like many movements the smoking ban seemed to start in California beginning with their original cry of “…to save the children.” Like Paul Revere shouting the “British are coming” the “It’s for the children” was heard across the country.

Who would not want to save a child? Don’t get me wrong: I am all for saving the children. And let's admit it, some marketing of tobacco products were questionable as to their intended target audience.

Read more: The Nanny States of America - Part Two

Voting Members of FDA Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee Chosen

FDA announced this morning that they had selected the Voting Members (the ones that count) for the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) as mandated in The Tobacco Act.

These FDA-Approved individuals are the ones who will set the criteria for Modified Risk Tobacco (MRT) products; more commonly known as Reduced Harm Tobacco. This includes Swedish Snus as well as any other non-combustible tobacco products which feel they may qualify for MRT designation.

Read more: FDA Panel Takes on Menthol in March 2010!