Biden administration dropping plan to ban menthol cigarettes: Report

return2ozma@lemmy.world to politics @lemmy.world – 171 points –
Biden administration dropping plan to ban menthol cigarettes: Report
thehill.com
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I mean why ban JUST menthol cigarettes. Yes they're not good for you. No cigarettes are. It seemed to be an odd move unless they are somehow out and away much worse. That and yes. Bans are often useless. Money would be better spent addressing the factors that make people want to smoke and provide better alternatives. It'd be cheaper and more effective. I think the only down side to it is a threat to corporate profits. Which is a good downside to have if you ask me.

Because they’re the only legal non tobacco flavoring left. The idea is that flavored tobacco encourages smoking. I disagree regarding menthol, but I see it and I’m open to being swayed by data.

Because change like this happens by degrees.

Funny how often these changes target minorities first and then go no further

Is there a “predominantly white” flavor of cigarette? Can you explain how you would take steps to ban cigarettes, without “targeting minorities” and without an immediate outright ban?

I wouldn't take steps to ban cigarettes. Prohibition never stops people from doing what they want to do, usually makes things worse, and usually disproportionally affects minorities.

Sure, okay. What steps towards making cigarettes less appealing to the general population would you take?

Stay the course. Smoking is trending down. Continue educational programs so everyone knows the risks, but ultimately leave it up to adults to make their own decisions.

And yet, overall. Smoking reduction efforts in the US have been pretty effective.

How many of these smoking reduction efforts have banned cigarettes

Several?

One would think tobacco being criminalized would have been bigger news

Well, since this isn't proposing "banning cigarettes", and nothing in the parent comments was about banning them outright (in fact the opposite was the point), then it made no sense that you would be asking about that.

I thought you meant banning SOME cigarettes (or ban smoking in some cases) which would have been way more relevant.

But there are many kinds of cigarettes that are banned (and this would be another one), and many scenarios where smoking is banned. Those sorts of things have been part of why smoking has dropped significantly, without outright banning.

Hence, you know, the context of the things you were replying to here.

Because they're worse than regular cigarettes for multiple reasons. You tend to inhale longer and more deeply which is worse for your lungs, you might even smoke more since you don't feel the smoke and they don't really fix the whole craving, they were at least in the EU also more popular among young kids and generally more addicting.

I'm no expert. My natural reaction is those arguments sound specious. But not out of the question. Do you have a link to something solid. Reporting/research to share on this. Would be interesting if true. Like I said I'm not an expert. Not even a smoker. Had no one in my immediate family has smoked since the mid-1980s. So I have little doubt there are gaps in my knowledge.

You can fairly easily find several studies if you look up the EU ban in your favored search engine.