Evidently the only reason menthol cigarettes aren't banned already like the rest of flavored cigarettes is because they predominantly kill black people. What an absolutely disgusting state of affairs. Seriously, what the fuck?
So which is it? What move can you make that isn't panned by critics as having ulterior racist motives?
This take is bought and paid for by the tobacco industry.
Adults of any color are allowed to partake in self-destructive habits.
Which is precisely why menthol cigarettes should be banned. The idea that black kids don't count for this consideration is homicidal insanity.
"National survey data showed that significantly more adolescents and young adults than older persons smoked menthol cigarettes. In 2006, 43.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 40.6, 47.0) of current smokers aged 12 to 17 years reported that they used menthol cigarettes, as did 35.6% (95% CI = 34.0%, 37.2%) of current smokers aged 18 to 24 years. By contrast, 30.6% (95% CI = 28.6%, 32.6%) of smokers older than 35 years reported menthol use."
'Tobacco Industry Control of Menthol in Cigarettes and Targeting of Adolescents and Young Adults' https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2007.1255...
framing the issue as menthol cigarettes killing black kids is a really infantilizing view of black people. black people are just as capable as anyone else of free will and the ability to make their own life choices. it just so happens that menthol cigarettes are popular among black Americans. would you frame chewing tobacco as "killing rural white kids" in the same way?
you could alternatively frame this situation as: black Americans, more than other groups, disproportionately enjoy smoking menthols, and this action is banning something they enjoy doing, and therefore is racist for the completely opposite reason!
lower-income people disproportionately consume fast food. is this "killing" them, and should therefore be banned, because fast food is disproportionately "killing" lower-income people? the same principle applies here.
also, I hope you're not in favor of "safe shoot-up sites" for heroin, etc., at the same time as you hold these views about menthols and black people, because that would be pretty contradictory!
the possibility of a world where weed is legal and menthols can only be acquired illegally, handmade on the black market, is an interesting one, that's for sure!
YES
Time and time again, the tobacco industry has been shown to specifically target children. Why? Because children are dumber than adults and are more malleable to advertising. Stop burying your head in the sand.
"I hope you're not in favor of "safe shoot-up sites" for heroin, etc.,"
This is an accusation. Show your evidence or shut the fuck up.
Stop playing dumb. This is plain as day an accusation of hypocrisy (for which you have NO evidence.) The only good arguments against the prohibition against harmful substances is when the prohibition would do more harm than the substance itself; this cannot be shown for tobacco. This is why you and others who defend the tobacco industry are always desperate to change the subject. You think you can gaslight me into ignoring the intent of your malicious rhetoric? Sincerely: fuck off. I wish to never see another remark from you again.
Why? Is having compassion some sort of vice? Am I sinning when I look at people who for whatever reason make self-destructive choices and pick the empathic option?
Sad but true.