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One of the most lasting lessons american history Banning the sale and consumption of alcohol (the “noble experiment”) was a colossal failure. Drinking didn’t go down much, but profits ended up going not to legitimate businesses but to bootleggers and thugs, while murder rates soared to an all-time high in American history. It was this policy that made America’s most famous gangster, Al Capone, famous and wealthy.
I was reminded of this recently when I saw that the Biden administration’s Food and Drug Administration was banning menthol cigarettes. Menthol flavoring accounts for about 37% of cigarette sales, and the demand will not disappear, but it will be driven underground, creating greater risks for consumers.
ninety years later Forbidden failure, we will try it again on the smoker. Ironically, many of the same liberals who have been working for thirty years to legalize marijuana and other soft drugs (something I generally support) now want to effectively ban smoking.
Biden targets key swing states over proposed menthol cigarette ban
The FDA’s proposed rule would “prohibit menthol as a characteristic flavoring in cigarettes and all characteristic flavors (other than tobacco) in cigars.” The administration justified its action because it “has the potential to significantly reduce the risk of death from the use of burned tobacco products.” disease and death.” “”
This sounds a lot like a repeat of what the Temperance League told us about prohibition: “Prohibition will save lives, reduce crime, cure social ills, and improve the health of the nation.”
But even if all of these benign outcomes are true, since when does the U.S. government have the power to regulate people’s health and risks? American personal habits? As Americans, don’t we have the right to do things that are not good for us? Or are we heading towards a nanny state?
There are plenty of dangerous activities that Americans enjoy and choose to do despite their risks – rock climbing, skydiving from airplanes, driving motorcycles, and eating too much sugar (a sin I am definitely guilty of) are all standouts example of.remember when New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Want to stop obesity by banning “big eating”? Reading misinformation in the New York Times is bad for you — but I won’t ban the paper.
Prohibition’s 100th Anniversary: A closer look at how it started and why it ended
We should learn from most failed wars on drugs that the main effect was to enrich drug dealers. Instead of raising money from taxes on marijuana, as many states do now, it goes to drug cartels, criminal cartels and the streets. Corner drug dealer.
I don’t smoke; I don’t like it when people smoke around me and I have to inhale and smell cigar or cigarette smoke. I teach my children not to smoke or do drugs, and the school’s smoking cessation program makes perfect sense.
I have friends who died prematurely because of their chain smoking habits. On the other hand, I do smoke on rare occasions, especially when I’m stressed. This relaxes me like I sometimes do when I take chewable tablets at night while I sleep.I have Difficulty falling asleep.I don’t want government officials to pull the cigarette out of my mouth.
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The strangest and most illogical thing about the call to ban menthol is that it comes at a time when smoking is rarer than at any time in at least 100 years and possibly since the founding of the country. Over the past 60 years, smoking rates have fallen by more than 60% across nearly all age groups, especially among young people. anti-smoking education campaign is working. Don’t change your winning strategy.
Documentation/Illustrations (Getty Images)
The FDA ban could backfire by making smoking “cool” and “sexy” again.When I was in high school, my friends and I would occasionally go to the beach and smoke weed, part of the excitement was precisely because it was banned. We were rebellious teenagers for no reason and we acted like James Dean.
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We should also consider that the government also collects billions of dollars in taxes from smokers, driving underground sales of cigarettes and putting that money into the hands of criminals.
Yes, keep cigarettes away from your children.But let adults, not government regulators, make their own decisions Risks of Smoking.
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