What a topsy turvy world we live in.
The state of New York recently legalized recreational marijuana. But now they’re talking about banning the sale of any type of tobacco. That means you might not be able to get a cigarette legally in a year’s time should you find yourself in the Empire State.
Many states have gone forward with the menthol ban. California, for example, has legal marijuana but menthol cigarettes are illegal to buy. The Biden administration is expected to go forward with an all out nation-wide menthol ban, as Canada has already has one, by administration’s end.
But banning tobacco outright in a new one. The whole thing is in its infancy phase. But the state health department has begun polling New Yorkers asking questions like, “What is your opinion about a policy that would end the sale of all tobacco products in New York within 10 years? What is your opinion about a policy that would ban the sale of all tobacco products to those born after a certain date?”
One Albany insider told the NY Post, “I’ve never seen anything like this where the state uses this kind of focus grouping, alliance building, momentum building.”
But this is how NY does business. To be considered a popular progressive figure, NY Governor Kathy Hochul feels this is a quick and easy way to do it. But she knows the proposal isn’t popular, so the buildup will be quiet, subtle and then sudden.
Hochul denies even considering a ban on tobacco sales, but she is already in the process of banning menthol cigarettes statewide.
The progressive argument is that black people are heavily marketed to by menthol makers, making them victims.
Conservatives feel human beings should do and smoke what they want, and restricting a pleasure popular with a certain ethnic group is, in itself, pretty racist.
I say let the people smoke menthol and choose for themselves, and definitely let them smoke cigarettes. What say you? Comment below.
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