Joe Biden has spent as much time pretending he’s part of the black community as he has disparaging the black community but none of this shameless pandering or blatant racism has affected his support in the black community. All of that is about to change because Biden is expected to ban menthol cigarettes. This is worse than a malt liquor and Popeye’s ban put together and he will definitely feel the hate.
Since there are no actual problems in this country right now, The NY Post reports Biden is going after the biggest issue facing humanity:
President Biden’s administration is expected to announce this week a ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes in a move that will leave many Americans without their preferred flavor.
The new policy would disproportionately impact black smokers. Menthol cigarettes are used by more than three-fourths of African-Americans who smoke. About a quarter of white smokers prefer menthol rather than unflavored cigarettes.
Anonymous Biden administration officials confirmed the timing of the announcement to the Washington Post.
Prohibitions on other substances like cocaine and heroin have been wildly successful, especially in the black community, so I’m sure this will be fine too. It’s not like there will suddenly be a black market for Newports and certainly no black people will be shot and killed over the illegal menthol cigarette trade.
I should point out that last thing was sarcasm because for some reason people don’t understand what a smartass I am.
The ACLU, which doesn’t give a shit about gun rights, is very concerned with the menthol-smoking rights of black people. According to Fox News, the faux civil rights organization has fired off an angry letter:
In a letter sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock and several other officials, the ACLU along with dozens of others including the Drug Policy Alliance said while such a ban “no doubt well-intentioned,” it would have “serious racial justice implications.”
“Such a ban will trigger criminal penalties, which will disproportionately impact people of color, as well as prioritize criminalization over public health and harm reduction. A ban will also lead to unconstitutional policing and other negative interactions with local law enforcement,” the letter stated.
“A number of police encounters resulting in tragic deaths are linked to police enforcement of tobacco laws: Eric Garner, killed by a police chokehold, was illegally selling ‘loosie’ cigarettes, and Michael Brown was killed after being suspected of stealing a box of cigarillos,” the letter stated. “Even in the case of George Floyd, police were called to investigate a counterfeit bill used to purchase cigarettes,” the letter continued.
“Black people can’t obey the law” is maybe not the best argument here, but at least the ACLU has admitted that those 3 scumbags committed illegal actions to trigger a police response. Baby steps.
A better argument is: people have the right to do whatever the f*ck they want to to their own bodies. Cigarettes are legal so why ban a particular kind of cigarette? Go solve every problem in the world first and then come revisit this.
With marijuana legal in many places, and headed for federal decriminalization, there would a state in which you could smoke a fat blunt at the bus stop but if tried to catch a Kool behind the pawn shop, you’d go to jail. That’s as insane as it sounds.
It’s also as racist as it sounds, given that black people loves them some menthols. This really is like banning malt liquor while leaving pretentious craft IPAs, favored by white hipsters, completely legal.
Hopefully this opens the back community’s eyes to what democrats are all about. They take your money, they take your freedom, and they take your menthols.
