“The vices of the rich and great are mistaken for error; and those of the poor and lowly, for crimes.” (attributed to the Countess of Blessington) The main scientific reason (if it can be called that) cited by the Food and Drug Administration seems to be that adding menthol makes smoking more enjoyable to many users, leading to readier “initiation of the smoking habit.” [Atlantic Wire] In addition, the World Trade Organization ruled last year that it was an arbitrary trade restriction for the United States to have banned clove-flavored cigarettes of the sort formerly imported from Indonesia, as Congress did in the Tobacco Control Act of 2009, without also banning menthol-flavored cigarettes. [Jakarta Post]
More: Get ready for a huge boost to the already-thriving cigarette-smuggling business should the plan go through [ACSH] And from Arthur Caplan at Time: “Antismoking Advocates Have Misused Science.”
6 Comments
When did we move into a Hitler state? I smoke Menthol at near 48 I think it’s MY decision what I do. That is so untrue about Menthol being the first cigarette young smokers start with. I started smoking Marlboro Reds and switched to Menthol after they started tasted like wood. I have been smoking since I was 14. I don’t think any GOVERNMENT agency has any right to tell me or anyone else should put in our bodies. If I choose to smoke than that’s my decision not YOURS!
The government is not saying you can’t smoke – it is only mandating that you get less pleasure from this legal activity.
If a bureaucrat has power, they’ll use it.
Notice how there have been so many smokeless cigarette scare storeies in the press recently? The FDA does not, YET, regulate smokeless cigarettes. But they sure want to get their claws into that product.
Now step away slowly from that Big Gulp, and no one gets hurt…
At first I thought this was racist because it would have a disparate impact on African-American smokers.
Then I thought that it was racist to have thoughts like that.
So now I’m confused.
I smoked for 5 years And yeah I started with menthols, but its my right to choose if I wanna pollute myself its my choice
It’s my own choice to smoke! Menthol or plain! Government does NOT have the right to ban what I smoke or don’t smoke. Hell, the PRESIDENT OF THIS COUNTRY SMOKES!