The original social distancing

This one comes out a day later than planned, mostly because this has been a busy writing week. First up, for the Neoliberal Project's online magazine, Exponents, I take a look at the decade-long campaign to stigmatize smokers even when they're not actively smoking. "Thirdhand smoke" is the name for the particles left behind on clothes, hair, furniture, and other surfaces when people smoke. That it exists is not surprising: If you can smell smoke on someone, a sensitive chemical detector can pick it up, too. What's new is the effort to portray even brief exposures to this as hazardous to health, implying that allowing smokers into your home, workplace, or public social spaces is dangerous. Earlier this month, as the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning its spread across the US, news outlets were reporting on thirdhand smoke as a serious threat to public health. Now that we're all social distancing, this struck me as a good time to think about how we respond to big and small risks and to critically examine the ways the anti-smoking movement wants us to ostracize all smokers.

The pandemic has also exposed some of the illiberal tendencies in the anti-smoking movement. In New York, doctors are using it as an excuse to urge the government to ban all tobacco and vaping products. Other health authorities are seizing the opportunity to demonize vaping, suggesting that it increases the risk of being infected. (Does it? No one really knows yet, and the idea is mostly speculation at this point.) Lastly, Philip Morris International is under fire for donating ventilators to the Greek government to aid with treating patients of COVID-19. Wait, what? For some experts in public health, preventing tobacco companies from getting any positive press is apparently more important than sourcing life-saving ventilators in a pandemic. (Though if not for anti-smoking activists having a freakout about it and generating news coverage, I expect that almost no one would have noticed the donation.)

The FDA vs. small distillers

You've probably read about distilleries switching from spirits to sanitizer. Now there's a catch: The FDA is imposing regulations that force distillers to source extraneous ingredients, contradicting guidelines from the World Health Organization on how to make sanitizer locally. My new post for the Truth on the Market's blog symposium on the law, economics, and policy of the COVID-19 pandemic explains why the FDA is now the biggest obstacle to sanitizer production for small distillers.

Social distancing

To cook: I've been a cooking a ton this week from Raghavan Iyer's 660 Curries. This has been one of my go-to books for a long time, but with 660 recipes there's always more to discover. Most of it is pretty approachable once you load up your spice cabinet, and you probably have time right now to make some spice blends; the kheema is one of my favorites for an easy dinner.

To drink: Here's a throwback to a barrel aged cachaca cocktail from my days at Metrovino, sort of in Boulevardier territory but with a touch of anise as well. The Midnight Shift:

1 1/2 oz Novo Fogo barrel aged cachaca
3/4 oz Cynar
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
1/4 oz Galliano
2 dashes mole or chocolate bitters
1 dash absinthe
Stir, serve on the rocks or a big cube, garnish with an orange peel.

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