Posted on 09/12/2013 3:28:57 PM PDT by oxcart
Stop—a ban on menthol cigarettes—in the name of the law!
A number of current and former top-ranking law enforcement officials from the tobacco-producing South have blasted a potential menthol cigarette ban as the Food and Drug Administration weighs restrictions on those products, contending that prohibition will spur smuggling, counterfeit cigs and other organized crime.
Their comments to the FDA mirror arguments being made by Big Tobacco companies that have cited the specter of a menthol black market.
But tobacco critics and a former top New York state tax official scoffed at those claims, and accused tobacco companies of scare tactics that divert attention from the health damage caused by menthol cigs.
The FDA on Tuesday granted a 60-day extension to the time for public comments on possible menthol regulations. That extension until Nov. 22 came after requests from Big Tobacco companies, including Lorillard—whose Newport menthol brand accounted for 88 percent of the company's sales last year, and which is the second-biggest selling U.S. cigarette.
The FDA's move toward potential regulations comes after a recent agency study found that menthol cigarettes may "pose a public health risk above that seen with non-menthol cigarettes." The cigarettes, whose flavoring reduces the harshness of smoke, appear to be more addictive than unflavored cigarettes, the study indicated. Menthol cigarettes also are particularly popular with young smokers and African-Americans.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
I wonder how Holder allowed this to get through. It impacts Holder’s People more than any other demo group. Now they are going lock up more of them for smuggling menthol cigarettes?
I once took two whole duffle bags of Newports back to Korea after I did a mid-tour leave. I bought every carton I could get my hands on at the Offutt AFB BX and Commissary at $3 a carton. Sold every pack for $20 a piece and could've sold twice as many. Do the math.
“Hey joe, you got Sarim?”
Yep. Talkabout a “Black” Market!
$20 per pack or $20 per carton?
These people are freaking idiots, because the cautions against this nonsense are correct. It will just add to the already booming black market because of outrageous tobacco taxes.
Nice pick!
Compared to what ? LOL
Cops fear menthol ban will spark black market boom
_____________________
What? another thing to criminalize?
Then they’ll scream about the loss of tax revenue.
Pack. I think I made more money from that than I did from my pay while there. I was making $397/month when I enlisted. They carried Kool and Salem but not Newport over there.
i would not be surprised to see menthol-it-yourself kits (or for that matter, to impart many possible flavors to the coffin nails).
Dang.
That’s a “buck a butt”.
This doesn’t go over well with me, menthol smoker .
Want a breath freshner with my tar and nicotine.
Bass turds
$397/month when you enlisted? That must have been long after I did. As I recall, pay for an E2 in 1966 was under $100/month.
And like I said, I could have sold many more if I’d had them. I was still getting requests on my last day there.
June 12, 1978.
Are you refering to a single pack of cigarettes or the carton?
A cigarette is neither food nor pharmaceutical drug.
What’s it got to do with the FDA?
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