May 1, 2008 8:38AM # The 998th Cut — and the 999th? By [Jim Harper](https://www.cato.org/people/jim-harper) --- SHARE Here’s a new bill in Congress that strikes me as a peculiar encroachment on freedom. [H.R. 5912](http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/110_HR_5912.html) would amend the U.S. code to make cigarettes and certain other tobacco products nonmailable. Undoubtedly, this would make it a teensy bit harder for some people to smoke and chew tobacco. More importantly, I think, it would deepen the role of the Postal Service in surveillance and enshrine the USPS a part of our niggling nanny state. Does this bill affect you directly? Chances are it doesn’t, as few people send or receive cigarettes in the mail. But what happens tomorrow when you’re part of a disfavored group? The bill’s sponsor is [Rep. John McHugh](http://mchugh.house.gov/) (R‑NY) who today features on his homepage House [passage of a bill](http://mchugh.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=90111) to establish a thing called the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Commemoration Commission. ##### Related Tags [Energy and Environment](https://www.cato.org/research/energy-environment), [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).