Smoking rates among adults and youth are plummeting. And while too many youth are vaping, legislators and regulators at the federal lave have recently made significant changes which are likely to improve the situation.

But state legislatures around the country are poised to do what some politicians do best: Overreact.

That's what happened in New Jersey this month, where Governor Murphy signed a bill banning the sale of flavored e-cigarettes to everyone, including adult smokers. Many states are also considering disproportionate taxes on e-cigarettes, a move that has already backfired in Minnesota, where quitters are become smokers again.

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Trump administration officials keep searching for solutions to rising prescription drug prices, which are increasing faster than inflation. "Drug makers and companies are not living up to their commitments on pricing. Not being fair to the consumer, or to our Country!" President Donald Trump tweeted last year.

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Following the Trump Administration's proposal of new rules for the Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service that would give schools more flexibility in the foods served in government-provided meals, the mainstream media lost no time in displaying their fawning Obama-worship. This was the lede in a January 17 Washington Post news story:

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A recent New York Times editorial about the Food and Drug Administration reflects a systematic weakness at the once-venerable Gray Lady: The members of the editorial board often rely on sloganeering and popular wisdom instead of substantive evidence.

The editorial was headlined, "The FDA Is in Trouble. Here's How to Fix It." The agency is in trouble. But it's due to the very kinds of "fixes" the Times recommends.

The FDA is highly bureaucratic and risk averse, leading to a slow and expensive drug approval process—at last count, more than $2.5 billion to bring a new drug to market. Yet the armchair quarterbacks at the Times want to slow it down even more and increase the cost and risks of innovating.

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Now that the Trump Administration's new FDA commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn, has been confirmed, he'll find he has one of the most difficult and important jobs in government. The FDA's purview is wide, regulating pharmaceutical and other medical, food, and vaping products that account for more than 25 cents of every consumer dollar, over a trillion dollars annually.

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