FDA considers ban on menthol cigarette sales - CNN.com

[vodkaniac]

And, yes, menthol cigarettes ARE nasty.

[deadohsky]

It was a joke (hence the "lol"), lighten up a little bit. Gotta be able to laugh about this ridiculous stuff from time to time.

[vodkaniac]

I was being funny too. I thought.

[vodkaniac]

I mean comparing a flavored cigarette ban with the holocaust. I guess I was being ludacris.

[c.nash]

If this passes all flavored tobacco will be next.

[shikitohno]

I don't see the point to this. I'm going to look up my congressman's number and raise hell for a little while. I don't even smoke, but it's just constantly going further and further, all in the name of "protecting the children." If your kids haven't gotten the message by now that tobacco is bad for your health, and they start smoking because they think it's cool and good for them, I think they should get free cartons every couple of days. Make them 4 pack a day smokers, because if they live long enough to reproduce, they're polluting the gene pool.

[krahv]

Things get crazier and crazier everyday. Can we even talk about democracy anymore ? Or has there any point in time bein a democracy behind the name ?
But hey thats why we elect politicians so they can think for us, because apparently we're just lambs and cant do it ourselves.

To me its just seems that free world is heading to some huge disaster

[LaZeR]

Things get crazier and crazier everyday. Can we even talk about democracy anymore ? Or has there any point in time bein a democracy behind the name ?
But hey thats why we elect politicians so they can think for us, because apparently we're just lambs and cant do it ourselves.

To me its just seems that free world is heading to some huge disaster

+1

[Langdell]

Just joking of course. I share your sentiment with it creeping closer to affecting us. It's also something i think (not directly referring to the cigs here more of the ban on tobacco in general that's looming) that it is going to be very hard for us to stop from happening. We can petition and write/ talk to our congressmen but it seems like it's another one of those things that if 'they' want it to go into effect, it will despite how we feel about it.

Shouldn't stop us from giving them hell though.

I think it's vital that us tobacco users not take any steps toward a ban lying down or accept it as a foregone conclusion. I think part of what's been going on is that many tobacco users (especially smokers, but also tobacco users in general) have been shamed by the anti-tobacco hysteria into not defending their right to use something that they enjoy and that adults have enjoyed for centuries. I for one refuse to be a self-hating tobacco user. I know it's not PC to say it, but I like tobacco, dammit! They will have to pry my tobacco from my cold, dead hands. (And, because I use it in its least risky forms, snus and pipe, that will be a long time from now.) So, yeah, I'll be giving 'em hell.

[Experimental Monkey]

I'll say this again: big tobacco would shell out millions upon millions of dollars to various politicians to stop this from happening. The chances of menthol being pulled off the shelves is less than the chances of me ****ing Jessica Alba tonight.

[LaZeR]

I'll say this again: big tobacco would shell out millions upon millions of dollars to various politicians to stop this from happening. The chances of menthol being pulled off the shelves is less than the chances of me ****ing Jessica Alba tonight.

Can I stop over tonight?

[CultLeaderLettuce]

a. I don't see any chance of tobacco being completely banned, at least not for a long time. The people in power love their cigars way too much.

b. I could see minority communities speaking up against this in a heartbeat if it actually happened.

c. I have to wonder, is this anti-tobacco agenda going to be like the anti-alcohol agenda that led to prohibition in the 1920's? If so, will it also eventually die like the temperance movements? I see either one or two things happening in twenty years. Either we'll look back to today's times and say "I can't believe that Tobacco was legal, how did that ever work?" or we'll look back and laugh at the ridiculous behavior of the anti-tobacco movement.

d. I do wonder at times if a lot of the people jumping on the bandwagon are doing so because they are just looking for a group to hate? With the political correctness of today, it is very taboo to hate most groups of people for BS reasons, so are these people who thirst for a group of people to treat like crap, and because of the current anti-tobacco sentiment of today... they're more than happy to bash tobacco users.

e. Correct me if I'm wrong, but for many years, people ignored anti-smoking agendas until they started bringing out the second-hand smoke argument. While I can actually understand some of that, especially realizing how I smelled when I was a smoke now that I no longer smoke, but I am disgusted that they didn't stop with smoking bans, and have just moved onto all tobacco products... in the name of "for the children." And the most interesting part is, alcoholic beverages still have nice flashy bright and colorful "child-friendly" packaging, and the commercials are even child friendly (I saw a smirnoff mixed drink commercial this afternoon with delicious looking fruits floating around on the screen, it could have been a Juicy Juice commercial for God's sake). Personally, while cigarette smoking endangers the health of anyone who does it, I have never seen anyone living on the street because of their cigarette addiction. I've seen drunks who drank themselves out of their jobs and homes though. If it really was "for the children," it would be things like that that anyone who really is concerned about children would be going for. (a note: I enjoy alcohol from time to time, and I have honestly have no real issues with the packaging I'm mentioning... I believe that parents need to be doing their damn job instead, that's how I knew not to smoke or drink when I was a kid... but I'm merely pointing out a double standard that I find to be absolutely absurd).

[texastorm]

Can you imagine what would happen if they completely banned something people loved that you could easily grow yourself at home and if legal immense taxes could be levied on it? ... Oh wait that's weed... never mind that ban didnt work.

carry on

[tom502]

If they ban snus, nothing much would be said, but if menthol cigs were, it'd be riots in Watts and Harlem.

[RobsanX]

The new way to steal freedom is to say it protects the kids.

Or that it protects us from terrorists...