04-29-2021, 12:35 PM
(04-29-2021, 11:21 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: I normally have the somewhat libertarian take of "If people want to do it, let them do it" when it comes to smoking. Everyone on the planet knows it's bad for you (I honestly don't even think cigarette companies are fighting that battle anymore. It seems like pretty definitively settled fact that smoking causes lung cancer), so if you still choose to do it, that's on you.
Agreed.
Quote:On top of that, prohibition of drugs and alcohol has never really worked. The prohibition period for alcohol and the banning of illegal drugs and subsequent "war on drugs" has done nothing but put hundreds of thousands of low level/non violent offenders in jail and significantly increased the flow of money into illegal operations such as gangs and "the mafia."
Also, 100% agreed
Quote:However, the racialized marketing of menthols does make it seem related to the systemic racism in this country. I am not educated enough on the history of menthol cigarettes and their marketing to black people specifically, I just know the stereotype of black people and menthols. But if there was an intentional push to marketing them towards black people for some arguably nefarious reason, especially if they are explicitly marketed to young black people, I'd at least consider banning them a reasonable thing. As long as the violators of the ban are the sellers (I.E. the production company, not necessarily the stores, if they were still somehow in circulation) and not the purchasers. If you banned menthols and then arrested black people who are addicted and tried to purchase them anyway, then that would obviously be a huge problem and would actually increase the systemic racism in our country.
Not really my wheelhouse though, so I defer to others for anything beyond the surface level assumptions.
Here I think you go off the rails. First off, I'd say there would be more to this argument if menthols were markedly more addictive or health damaging, but they are not. Secondly, products are marketed to groups all the time, with the groups varying by age, ethnicity, sex, sexual preference etc. This, on its own is not racist in any way, unless, again, the product is worse in some way and this is the reason for the targeted consumer base. Even then, and this is one of the biggest issues I have with left leaning types (I'm not referring to you but in general) is the baked in assumption of that position that group X cannot think or figure things out for their own, an adult can determine whether to use the product or not. This "white savior" complex is more than a little prevalent on the left. Black people are often infantilized, characterized as needing your (re. white people) help to figure things out. An adult black person is no less capable than an adult of any other ethnicity, and thus in no more need of "help" from the government to avoid a certain product than anyone else.
I certainly have zero issue with eliminating tobacco or alcohol adds that target those under eighteen. But adults are adults, let them make up their own minds. They certainly don't need the government doing it for them.
