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Biden's menthol cigarette prohibition is so obviously stupid and wrong it boggles the mind
Yahoo! News ^
| April 29, 2021, 11:43 AM
| Anthony L. Fisher
Posted on 05/01/2021 8:06:27 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Biden claimed to regret how his drug warrior legacy led to mass incarceration.
But the prohibition will lead to harsher policing in Black communities.
It's like the president hasn't learned a thing from the failed and evil War on Drugs.
This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
Joe Biden clearly hasn't learned a thing from the failed and immoral War on Drugs - a disaster that he played a huge part in creating.
The president on Thursday ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban menthol cigarettes, a plan first reported on Wednesday by the Washington Post. Since it's a regulatory change, Congress has no say in the matter.
Anti-smoking advocates have lobbied for the ban for years, arguing correctly that the tobacco industry has targeted menthol sales at young people and Black communities.
Let's be clear: Big Tobacco is a callous, lying cabal that exists to profit off addicting people to a deadly product. But cigarettes aren't going to be made illegal overnight, just a certain flavor of cigarettes.
The ban will make menthol a prized commodity, a sought-after product whose artificial scarcity will inevitably drive up its price on non-legal markets.
A flavor will now be a crime, making criminals out of people who want some mint flavoring with their toxic tar.
This idea isn't just dumb and wholly unnecessary - it's plainly destructive to the communities it's supposed to be helping.
Throughout the 2020 Democratic primary, Biden was badgered by his rivals into apologizing for authoring several of the Drug War's most punitive and socially destructive laws.
Those laws contributed to mass incarceration, the militarization of police, black markets controlled by violent criminals, as well as millions of broken homes and shattered lives.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: andyouexpected; biggovnt; cigarettes; dopefiends; drugcheerleaders; goldengoose; govtcheerleaders; lungcancer; menthol; reno89519; suicidebycigarette; tobacco
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To: Reno89519
banned all cigarettes and Vape
I am laughing out loud. I am a smoker of Cuban cigars, you know--the ones that are banned.
I don't have to pay taxes on them, unlike legal cigars.
Think about it....
41
posted on
05/01/2021 9:10:54 AM PDT
by
cgbg
(A kleptocracy--if they can keep it. Think of it as the Cantillon Effect in action.)
To: E. Pluribus Unum
42
posted on
05/01/2021 9:11:36 AM PDT
by
mylife
(The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
To: Reno89519
Uhhh…no.
A president should have no right to ban anything. That’s not how the US works. Or worked.
43
posted on
05/01/2021 9:14:10 AM PDT
by
livius
To: E. Pluribus Unum
This is a clear indication that Biden really isn't running things. He would never have come up with something like that on his own, and in the old days, he would have laughed at anybody who came up with the idea. But now he's just a robot who signs whatever gets put on his desk.
Obama isn't running things either. Not unless he's entirely forgotten sneaking all those Kools and Newports when nobody was looking. Sometimes ex-smokers are the most anti-smoking, but I don't think he's one of them -- not enough to attack menthol.
44
posted on
05/01/2021 9:15:49 AM PDT
by
x
To: E. Pluribus Unum
Liberals have been obsessed with mind boggling obviously stupid issues for the past 50 years. Men in women's clothes. Fags being accepted as decent folk. Foreigners in the country illegally yet being left alone to do their thing. Marijuana being legal in so many states.
What, about liberals, is not stupid?
45
posted on
05/01/2021 9:16:23 AM PDT
by
LouAvul
(Lying headlines from fake news articles written by pimps masquerading as journalists.)
To: E. Pluribus Unum
He banned menthol cigarettes to protect black people?
That's one step removed from banning fried chicken to help black folk control their cholesterol and if it had been Trump who had done it people would say exactly that.
46
posted on
05/01/2021 9:17:27 AM PDT
by
pepsi_junkie
(Often wrong, but never in doubt!)
To: RandallFlagg
The results of the “for your own good” acceptance of Government control.
Somewhere along the way the People decided that being Ruled is a lot easier than being Governed. They don’t even know the difference.
47
posted on
05/01/2021 9:18:23 AM PDT
by
Kickass Conservative
(Don't blame me, I Voted for the guy who actually Won the 2020 Presidential Election...)
To: M Kehoe
Alright, I concede your point, but only to a degree. There are rights of the people that I consider to be grey areas. A person should be allowed to do what he wants as long as it doesn't harm anyone else. But what constitutes "harm"? It is taking away the rights of others to do what they want as well.
But what about drugs, prostitution, and other habits that we generally consider to be destructive? There are secondary and tertiary consequences to those that aren't immediately apparent. Those are the grey areas. Not only in terms of right and wrong, but what can be a slippery slope if taken to either extreme.
One extreme is just letting the population do whatever it wants in this context. Maybe that's better than the other extreme of letting the government do whatever it wants. But it's an imperfect world requiring imperfect solutions. The only benevolent tyranny is God's.
To: E. Pluribus Unum
Welp, there goes the black vote...
49
posted on
05/01/2021 9:26:55 AM PDT
by
SaxxonWoods
(Any comment might be sarcasm, or not. It depends. Often I'm not sure either.)
To: Kickass Conservative
Kinda makes me wonder if the idea of state electoral colleges would stop this kind of nonsense from happening.
I watched a Rageaholic YouTube video yesterday that talked about this.
50
posted on
05/01/2021 9:37:46 AM PDT
by
RandallFlagg
("Okay. As long as the paperwork is clean, you boys can do what you like out there." -Fifi)
To: faucetman
In the real world what will happen is that gas stations in the “bad areas” will add menthol cigarettes to the “menu” as you said.
Hopefully The Big Guy does not get his cut on these...
51
posted on
05/01/2021 9:38:43 AM PDT
by
cgbg
(A kleptocracy--if they can keep it. Think of it as the Cantillon Effect in action.)
To: Reno89519
Reno89519 wrote: “He should’ve just banned all cigarettes and Vape. The country will be better off for it, and in this case that would be a non-racist”
Sounds like the arguments for alcohol prohibition. How’d that turn out?
52
posted on
05/01/2021 9:52:31 AM PDT
by
DugwayDuke
(Most pick the expert who says the things they agree with.)
To: DugwayDuke
Well, alcohol prohibition brought us The Age Of Camelot, ya know...
The future organized crime menthol king billionaire may be a starving gig worker somewhere....opportunity is knocking...
;-)
53
posted on
05/01/2021 10:00:26 AM PDT
by
cgbg
(A kleptocracy--if they can keep it. Think of it as the Cantillon Effect in action.)
To: BookmanTheJanitor
Crack is still cool ...right?
Not menthol crack, that's strict no-no!
54
posted on
05/01/2021 10:36:25 AM PDT
by
null and void
(When you put bad people in charge expect bad things to happen, often in a spectacular and sudden way)
To: Organic Panic
“You uppity blacks aint black if you don’t support a white KKK political mentor looking out for you.” - Democrats.Banning menthol is only the first step to banning niKKKotine!
55
posted on
05/01/2021 10:38:54 AM PDT
by
null and void
(When you put bad people in charge expect bad things to happen, often in a spectacular and sudden way)
To: RandallFlagg
Granted.
But I was referring specifically to the effort to ban menthol cigarettes. This started under Obama. I know because I owned Lorillard stock at the time. Lorillard made Newports.
To: rhinohunter
Folks may have forgotten—but the original argument used for banning marijuana is that is was a “gateway” drug.
Now their argument against menthols is they are a “gateway” cigarette.
The nanny-staters can’t keep their story straight!
57
posted on
05/01/2021 10:44:00 AM PDT
by
cgbg
(A kleptocracy--if they can keep it. Think of it as the Cantillon Effect in action.)
To: rhinohunter
Correctamundo. Obama’s SCHIP tax.
I actually attempted growing my own tobacco because of this.
Gave it up when I discovered e-cigarettes.
58
posted on
05/01/2021 10:44:37 AM PDT
by
RandallFlagg
("Okay. As long as the paperwork is clean, you boys can do what you like out there." -Fifi)
To: Reno89519
Leftists know better. Cigarettes are a vital source of taxes. They’d look at a total ban as a tax cut, and you know how that works.
59
posted on
05/01/2021 10:48:20 AM PDT
by
DPMD
To: E. Pluribus Unum
Smoking spreads Covid. Let’s ban smoking!
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