Vaping and menthol cigarette ban

[22AcaciaAve]

The FDA is in the process of banning not only flavored e-cigs, but menthol cigarettes as well. Supposedly this will stop teen vaping/smoking...because...? It's already illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to buy cigarettes AND vaping stuff. They always card me at Walgreen's, even though I'm 55 years old and clearly old enough to buy vape stuff. Because a few kids are slipping through the legalities, now they want to outright ban it.

First of all, who smokes menthol cigarettes?

That's right, black people. So in my mind this ban specifically targets them and you'd think they'd object to that.

But what's really on my mind is government run amok. They are so powerful and we are such sheeple that they can do whatever they want, and there's nothing we can do to stop them. Government agencies can ban anything they please, no matter how stupid and overreaching, and there's nothing we can do about it.

Read this piece and the statements by FDA officials - it will make your head explode.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/fda-restricts-most-flavored-e-150900520.html

And the comment: "Yet marijuana is being legalized."

It's freaking crazy.

This is what I find so damn hypocritical. The big push to legalize marijuana. The main argument is that it is no worse, and probably not as bad as, alcohol. Yet cigarettes are the biggest evil of all time. The primary way of using marijuana is to smoke it. How hypocritical is it to advocate for the legalization of something that is mainly used by smoking it while also advocating for the ban of a legal product which is used the same way. Makes no sense. Government needs to stop worrying about mandating everyone's health habits and start worrying about the things they do control that are severely unhealthy at this point..........infrastructure, debt, military readiness....just to name a few.

 

[Hijinx]

This is what I find so damn hypocritical. The big push to legalize marijuana. The main argument is that it is no worse, and probably not as bad as, alcohol. Yet cigarettes are the biggest evil of all time. The primary way of using marijuana is to smoke it. How hypocritical is it to advocate for the legalization of something that is mainly used by smoking it while also advocating for the ban of a legal product which is used the same way. Makes no sense. Government needs to stop worrying about mandating everyone's health habits and start worrying about the things they do control that are severely unhealthy at this point..........infrastructure, debt, military readiness....just to name a few.

 

[black dog]

Its interesting that Uncle Sam isn't worried about two huge killers, alcohol and fatty foods but they are worried about vaping and menthol and flavored smoking products.
I was a two - three pack a day smoker until eleven - twelve years ago, I smoked Kools.

 

[SamSpade]

First of all, who smokes menthol cigarettes?

When I smoked, it was the ONLY thing I smoked. I remember one brand I smoked called "Arctic Lights".
My friends called them ice cream cigarettes, because the menthol was very strong.
But my preferred brand was Benson and Hedges.

I always thought that vaping was generally used as a substitute for cigarettes for people
who were intending to eventually QUIT. I had no idea that for an awful lot of teens especially,
it's the preferred method to begin with - somehow on the idea that it is *harmless*.

I'm not sure where I stand on the issue, because I generally lean to the side that tells the
government to back off.

 

[SamSpade]

Its interesting that Uncle Sam isn't worried about two huge killers, alcohol and fatty foods .

Oh yes they are - just not into BANNING it. Partly because it's just flat out impossible. They TRIED banning alcohol once, and
we remember how THAT turned out. How will they ban fatty foods? Outlaw butter, cream and vegetable oil?

 

[vraiblonde]

I'm not sure where I stand on the issue, because I generally lean to the side that tells the
government to back off.

I lean to the side that says there are things that we have decided to put an age requirement on - driving, drinking alcohol, smoking, etc. - with the realization that underage people are going to do it anyway.

Should we also ban driving and alcohol and R-rated movies? You know, since some underage people are going to break the law and do it anyway? (That question is not directed at you personally, Sam.) (But you probably knew that.)

 

[Grumpy]

Banning something gives the less law abiding a new career in the black market. We saw what happened with alcohol back in the 20s. Banning guns/cigs/whatever doesn't change a thing but the price.

 

[PsyOps]

Are we a free people or not?!!

Not. We get the government we deserve.

 

[PsyOps]

maybe I can get Menthol Flavored Pot

Stop it! Chris is trying to quit.

 

[Monello]

Isn't this how most bans work? First you ban cigarette ads on TV. Then after that's completed move on up the ban ladder. Today it's menthol cigs. Then once that box is checked start to ban loose tobacco & cigarette papers. Then outlaw cigars. Before you know it, the only thing you can smoke are brisket and ribs.

Just like starting out with banning large capacity magazines........

 

[vraiblonde]

My question is:

Once they successfully get everyone to quit smoking or vaping, how will they make up for all the tax money they'll lose?

 

[SamSpade]

My question is:

Once they successfully get everyone to quit smoking or vaping, how will they make up for all the tax money they'll lose?

It's why they never make the taxes TOO high - can't kill the golden goose.
Well that and the Democrat's argument that high taxes on alcohol and cigs is a tax on the poor.
(They have SUCH high opinions of the poor).

 

[Kyle]

My question is:

Once they successfully get everyone to quit smoking or vaping, how will they make up for all the tax money they'll lose?

I'm sure they'll find a way to tax some other enjoyable activity.

 

[Grumpy]

I'm sure they'll find a way to tax some other enjoyable activity.

Or even un-enjoyable things like rain

 

[Kyle]

Or even un-enjoyable things like rain

Yep. I've even known some of the progish people to roll their eyes and sigh at that one.

 

[black dog]

My question is:

Once they successfully get everyone to quit smoking or vaping, how will they make up for all the tax money they'll lose?

Let them put an additional 2.00 bucks tax on each six-pack and 5.00 bucks on each 750ml and see if the surfs are happy...

 

[mitzi]

Yet the FDA recently approved a drug 1000 times more powerful than Fentanyl. What is the issue here? Can you legally buy vape under the age of 18 in some states? If so, change that law. So now they want to save the black community from becoming addicted to menthol smokes and save them from themselves. What a crock. I started with Kools, then Salems, then Virginia Slim Menthol, then Misty menthol, now Maverick menthol. I'm trying to quit or at least cut back so I vape most of the time now with Mint vape juice. This whole idea is BS.

 

[PrchJrkr]

Except for my first few years of smoking, I've always smoked mentholated cigarettes. My first smoke was a handful of "barn tobacco" rolled up in brown paper from a grocery bag. Talk about a harsh smoke! I settled on Salem Lights in high school after Kools. Switched to Marlboro menthol lights, then Alpines, then back to the Marlboro menthol lights. Now my go to cigarette is Pall Mall menthol 100s. I vape infrequently, but when I do, it is a mixture of tobacco and mint. Until these thread popped up, I had know idea I was considered part of the "black community".

 

[GURPS]

My first smoke was a handful of "barn tobacco" rolled up in brown paper from a grocery bag. Talk about a harsh smoke!

you could probably smoke ANYTHING after that and think it was mild or a light