Am I hearing a couple of y'all right? That they're still allowing menthol because black folks buy them (and there's a nod toward this being a conspiracy against blacks) ?
Big Tobacco is in cahoots with the feds, that's all I see in this. "We can sell our flavored smokes, but let's put a ban on flavored smokes that are imports."
I don't think its a conspiracy or anything, its just a string of facts.
Menthol is a flavor.
I know among white people, its probably less than half that smoke menthol, and many of them are gonna be the younger smokers. Long term smokers eventually gravitate towards "regular" flavor. The menthol shreds your lungs to hell.
For some reason, black people tend to stick with the menthols. I don't know why, its just been my experience. I have never personally seen a black dude who smoked "full flavor" on a regular basis... Maybe, on occasion, I could see it being necessary to get Marlboros or Winston, or Kent or Camels, like if you're trapped in a bar and thats all they have.
I'll bet if you polled a hundred black smokers, 85%+ would be menthol smokers.
You add all that up, if they prohibited menthol, the black smokers would be A) pissed B) Outraged C) screaming bloody murder about targeting them specifically in the War On Illness, with all this healthcare shit on the horizon. They're declaring war on obesity, cholesterol, smoking, all that. And SPECIFICALLY removing menthol, while leaving regular flavor...
I'm not creating the spin, man. I'm just predicting how it would play out. And I never said anything about Obama, he never entered my thoughts, except in response to Joel. This has nothing to do with Obama, as far as I'm concerned. Even if he did sign a bill on flavored, clove, and whatever. He's just doing what the strategists convince him is best - probably to nullify the damage to his image from being photographed smoking, might be a part of it.
I'm curious if the ban includes blunt wraps.
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edit
Had to look back into the article if Obama signed any bills specifically towards this, and it appears he did not. I guess the FDA just appealed for more regulatory power over cigs, and got their way. I could see him signing a larger bill covering a whole bunch of stuff, and this was included. Article also mentions they may have tighter control over menthol in the future, so there ya go. But they won't eliminate it.