Why You Should Care about the Biden Menthol Ban Even if You Don’t Smoke

(Annie Black) – It was announced last week that the Harris-Biden administration plans to resurrect an effort by its Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban menthol cigarettes.

Even if you don’t smoke, here’s why you should oppose such a move…

1.)  As long as cigarettes are legal, the government shouldn’t be picking and choosing which ones you can buy.

2.)  Banning menthol cigarettes won’t stop people from smoking.  Most will just switch to regular cigarettes.  So the ban is effectively meaningless.

3.)  Smokers intent on smoking menthol cigarettes will switch to the “black market,” which increases the power of criminal organizations.

4.)  Smokers who buy off the black market won’t be paying taxes on their purchases, so this move will hurt local and state governments.

5.)  Law enforcement officers have enough serious problems to deal with already.  They don’t need to be turned into “Menthol Cops.”

And since every issue these days seemingly must have a racial angle, the fact is this ban will affect mostly black smokers since some 85% of them prefer menthol cigarettes as compared to a third of white smokers.

Indeed, liberal Washington Post columnist and Black Lives Matter supporter Eugene Robinson wrote recently that “Black smokers have every right to feel targeted by the planned prohibition.”

“More to the point,” Mr. Robinson continued, “wouldn’t the menthol ban give authorities a new reason to target the average black person, minding his or her business and smoking a cigarette, for alleged illicit activity?”

And in a May 3 letter to Janet Woodcock, the acting FDA commissioner, 36 conservative organizations added…

“If this proposal were to be enacted, it is inevitable that it would lead to further confrontations between individuals and law enforcement and break down trust even further.  In addition, by diverting law enforcement resources to preventing the sale of menthol cigarettes, this policy will reduce the resources available for the prevention and solving of property and violent crimes.”

Now let’s review the important issues facing us in Washington, DC these days…

• Israel is under attack
• ISIS is resurging
• Russia, China and North Korea are threatening their neighbors
• There’s an illegal immigration crisis on our border
• Unemployment is creeping up again
• Inflation is rising
• Lumber prices have gone through the roof
• Gas prices are skyrocketing
• Gas shortages are growing
• Many kids still aren’t in classrooms full-time
• Confidence in our elections is at an all-time low
• ANTIFA violence and riots are still going on
• Big Tech is attacking the First Amendment
• Gun grabbers are attacking the Second Amendment
• Congress is attacking the Tenth Amendment

But, yeah, let’s focus on banning flavored cigarettes.  Priorities, ya know.