1ºPat Gell Richards, I understand other people like menthol cigarettes. I ran my own tobacco shop after I left my corporate job for 12 years. The government has assumed for quite a while that people gravitate to the menthol brands because of their distinct taste. This is old news but once again it has surfaced and the tobacco industry is heavily regulated by our government. Putting an end to the menthol cigarettes will have more of an impact on the Black smokers because that what a majority of them buy. That was always my experience and the experience of everyone I’ve known in the tobacco industry here in the United States.
2ºJackson Tarr there is no "worse" or "bigger" problem that is universal to all people! And the other things you listed ARE also being worked on! YOU said "solve some real problems"...
"Cigarette smoking is the No. 1 cause of preventable death, disease and disability in the United States. It’s responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the country – and it doesn’t just kill smokers. More than 41,000 people die in the US each year from exposure to secondhand smoke, according to the CDC.
A menthol ban could save up to 650,000 lives over the next 40 years, with a third of those lives saves among the Black community, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids."
3ºTheresa SchrumI’m not exactly sure what the price of cigarettes are but I think in the $15-$20 a pack of which $10-$15 in tax is charged. A smoker is effectively paying $300-$500 a month. As a “sin tax” the revenue should be set aside to treat them.
Someone just told me cigarettes are over $20 a pack in NY.
The insane amount of tax revenue resulting from cigarette sales (across the country) is the only reason tobacco isn’t illegal everywhere. There’s not a single positive quality that tobacco yields to any user. Quite contrarily, there are innumerable harmful effects yielding to comorbidities for everybody that uses tobacco.
4ºSo he rewrites Title IX but delays the decision concerning trans participation in girls sports because it doesn’t poll well. We all know what his administration is going to decide. Then they go all out to ban menthol cigarettes, but now delay the decision in order to not lose Black votes. We all know what his administration is going to decide. All this talk about protecting rights and health and yet he’s willing to scrap his vaunted principles and ideals as soon as they don’t help his re-election. So he’s duplicitous, unprincipled and opportunistic, all the things he labels Trump as.