Over the summer, I was enjoying a Padrón cigar and took a moment to read the ever-so-blatant health advisory warnings.
Now, I know the text in the image is practically impossible to read, so here it is again:
WARNING: Smoking cigars regularly poses risks of cancer of the mouth, throat, larynx and esophagus similar to smoking cigarettes. This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects and other reproductive harm.
So, what specific chemicals do the Californians know about that other states and countries don’t? Does everyone in the State of California know these chemicals? Or just the government? Surely this is something needs further journalistic investigation!
I think the emphasis is on ‘known’ which begs the question ‘why allow them?’. No?
@ Shefaly – Yeah, sure enough. I agree that is probably the intended emphasis.
But my main point was ‘why California?’ The cigars weren’t bought in California (can’t recall for sure where they were purchased, but it definitely was not in the Bear Flag State.) It seemed a weird selection to name as the authority on the hazards of smoking. As so many respected and established medical national and international ‘authorities’ have confirmed the hazards, why name a state?
@ Liam:
I am guessing that irresp of where you bought it, the product was probably packaged for the state of CA which, as things go in the US, must have its own packaging rules and language.
Unless you want to believe this news article which may fuel the theory that the cigar, alas, is a fake:
http:// http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Daily/CA_Daily_News/0,2342,93,00.html
Actually, the message is intended for those f’n Berkeley radicals who are still smokin’ pot and think the ’60s decade hasn’t ended. 😉
@CheekyMonkeyDawg
That would be all of Berkeley then? 🙂 When I first visited the town on my own, I took the train (the first time, a friend drove me and I saw a voodoo shopwhen I got out of the car). I got out and I saw one man selling pot to another. It must have been 11am. Amusing.