It’s hard to believe that it’s mid-2022 and I’m still writing about the FDA’s COVID emergency hand sanitizer regulations, but here we are. Today at Reason I take a look at the seemingly never-ending regulatory drama distillers who made sanitizer are putting up with.

My biggest feature recently is a shared cover story for the May issue of Reason magazine on the new era of nicotine prohibition:

As tobacco, e-cigarettes, and e-liquids transition from legal to illicit, law enforcement agencies will more aggressively interfere with production, distribution, retail sales, and in some cases even individual use. Every such interaction carries with it the possibility of freedom lost, perhaps violently. There is a real risk that American tobacco policy will open a regressive new front in the war on drugs, just as the previous crackdown on psychoactive substances begins to wind down.

Relatedly, I have another piece at Reason covering some ongoing cases related to nicotine and tobacco prohibitions, asking the question, “Who will be the first person to go to prison for selling flavored tobacco or e-cigarettes?” At Liberal Currents, I look at this risk particularly how it applies to a federal ban on menthol cigarettes. And finally, at Slate I critique the FDA’s decision (now temporarily reversed) to ban Juul throughout the United States. Prefer video to text? We also cover a lot of this in a new video from Reason with myself, Natalie Dowzicky, and Ethan Nadelmann.

Over at my Substack, I offer up a longish essay on how how I’m currently thinking about belief polarization and social media, explaining why I no longer post about politics on Facebook, and dropping some hints about Seabird, a new project that I’m very excited about.

On a lighter note, I have a more book reviews up at the Examiner. My recent recommendations include Joshua Jay’s How Magicians Think, Alex Segura’s Secret Identity, and Camper English’s Doctors and Distillers.

One unexpected development this year is how much I’m writing about non-alcoholic drinks. For Inside Hook I wrote-up a tasting panel of non-alcoholic stouts and porters, a summery low-or-no ABV beer cocktail, and a new non-alcoholic spirit going big in Austin.