Last week the Massachusetts Multi-Agency Illegal Tobacco Task Force released its annual report. That probably isn’t exciting reading for most of you, but it’s a really useful document for understanding the impact of prohibitionist tobacco policies. In 2019, Massachusetts became the first state to pass a comprehensive ban on flavored nicotine and tobacco products. Flavor bans are studied by health academics for how they affect consumer behavior, but this annual report is one of the few sources that reveals how these policies affect law enforcement. Advocates for flavor bans portray them as simp ..read more

What do you call a cocktail with a split base of apple brandy and banana rum? If you grew up with the songs of a certain children’s singer, a tune by Raffi is probably one of the first things to come to mind. The title of this post is a bit long for a cocktail name, but for our February menu at the Multnomah Whiskey Library we went with Raffi’s Daiquiri. This drink came about from trying the new red banana oleo from Ron Colon. This is my favorite spirit in their line, which I started working with recently in Oregon. In brief, it’s a blend of Salvadoran and Jamaican rums flavored with red banan ..read more

I’ve published a couple recent articles on new wave nicotine products. First up in Reason, I looked at how heated tobacco (such as IQOS) is transforming the market in Japan: Japan provides an unlikely model for tobacco policy. The country tends to be more tolerant of smoking than its Western peers; it has high rates of smoking among men, and its government participates directly in the cigarette trade through its partial ownership of Japan Tobacco, the country’s largest manufacturer of cigarettes. It therefore comes as a surprise that Japan is experiencing a dramatic and sustained decline in c ..read more

I always write an annual post with my favorite books from the past year. Sometimes I even get it done before the year ends. This is not one of those times, but better late than never. As always, these are books I read in 2023, not necessarily ones that were published during the year. Non-fiction The Individualists, Matt Zwolinski and John Tomasi — This is now the first book I’d recommend to anyone seeking to understand libertarianism. While it’s not primarily about elucidating Matt and John’s own views, they also hint at a positive vision of what libertarianism could become. Read my review her ..read more

It’s almost a new year, so you may be thinking about making a resolution for self-improvement in 2024. Go to the gym. Eat or drink less. Quit smoking. All of these are worthwhile ideas. Unfortunately, they’re also hard. Here’s an easy one: never tweet. Maybe you already never tweet. Good for you! You are wiser than I was. I kicked a sixteen year habit in October. 21,000 times I opened that little text box, typed something in, and hit post. 1,300 times a year. 3-4 times a day. Then I decided I was done. I thought I would miss it, but I’ve gotta tell you, it’s great. Sometimes I still open the a ..read more

Yesterday was the 90th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition, so I have a new piece at Reason about the lessons that era holds for contemporary efforts to prohibit tobacco and nicotine. It touches on the proposed generational tobacco ban in the UK, the similar proposal just reversed in New Zealand, vape bans around the world, flavor bans in the US, and the total disaster that is Australia, where mere possession of a vape is a criminal offense and rival gangs are torching tobacco shops in a turf war for the illicit market. Read it here! Relatedly, the Biden administration is further delaying ..read more

Twitter (aka X) is bad now. I could write out a long list of reasons, but they should be obvious enough. Here’s where to find me going forward: Bluesky — Of all the Twitter-like platforms I’ve tried, this is the one I’m getting the most value from so far. I have doubts about whether any Twitter-like format can truly scale but it’s fun for now. Follow me there at jacobgrier.bsky.social. (It’s invitation-only, but invites are fairly easy to come by. As of now I have a few.) Seabird — One of my main uses for Twitter was finding and sharing links to writing and other media. That’s the only thing w ..read more

“How can you be a libertarian and live in Portland?” I’ve heard variations on this question a lot in the fifteen years since I left my job at a libertarian think tank in DC to move to one of the most progressive cities in the US. It’s especially relevant now, as perception of the city post-2020 has shifted from quirkily liberal to violently chaotic. The question was posed again recently by a visiting friend, which prompted me to write up this answer. What is there for a libertarian to like about the politics of Portland, Oregon? Quite a lot, actually. Ending the drug war has long been one of ..read more

Catching up on recent writing, most notably I have a new book out! The New Prohibition: The Dangerous Politics of Tobacco Control collects many of my articles and essays from the past few years: WARNING: Prohibition kills. Government prohibition of nicotine and tobacco products is hazardous to public health. Prohibitions are often poorly targeted, encouraging smoking by banning safer alternatives and protecting deadly cigarettes from competition. Prohibition creates illicit markets that lead to unregulated and untaxed products, raids and arrests by law enforcement officers, and incarceration ..read more

Architecture in Helsinki. In January I took a trip to Helsinki, Finland. This is kind of a weird choice for someone who lives in Portland, Oregon. We’re sun-deprived by that time of year and the beaches of Hawaii and Mexico are easy flights away, so why pick a place that’s even darker and grayer than here? I had a few reasons. One is that Finland is the only Nordic country I hadn’t visited yet (excluding the Faroe Islands, which I definitely do want to get to). Another is that as much as I love the Nordics, I felt like a bit of a poseur traveling there in every season except the winter. Scandi ..read more