President Joe is so dedicated to Black Lives Matter that he wants to create another Eric Garner case.
Garner, if you remember, died in a police encounter back 2014. He fought with police, who ultimately pinned him to the ground. What gets lost in all of the BLM remembrances, however, is that Garner was arrested for selling cigarettes. He was selling ‘loosies,’ single cigarettes to people who couldn’t afford a whole pack.
The officers were there to enforce a tax law violation. Eric Garner died because he was selling cigarettes.
President Biden is, reportedly, going to set this country on the path to another Garner death with a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes.
From The Daily Wire:
The Biden administration is expected to announce a proposal to ban menthol cigarettes later this week, a move that some groups have been wanting for a long time, while others say it will lead to more incarceration and negatively impact communities of color.
As reported by The Washington Post, “The administration also is poised to say it will seek to ban menthol and other flavors in mass-produced cigars, including small cigars popular with young people, according to administration officials familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss it publicly.”
Why ban menthol cigarettes? Because researchers say menthol cigarettes are more popular among blacks. And Joe Biden is dedicated to black lives.
A letter from the NCCAP and black doctors said, “The predatory marketing of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products must be stopped and we should all recognize this as a social justice issue, and one that disproportionately impacts youth and communities of color[.]” According to the Post, the “letter noted that the tobacco industry gave away free samples menthol cigarettes at gatherings in African American neighborhoods, promoted menthol tobacco through extensive advertising and sponsored educational and cultural events, such as jazz festivals, popular with the Black community. Throughout the years, the industry also has donated generously to the political campaigns of many Black, as well as White, lawmakers.”
See, it’s a public health and social justice imperative.
What could go wrong?
I have said for years that bad policy always ends with a man who has a badge and a gun coming to stop you. This ban on menthol cigarettes will end the same.
People will not stop smoking, and they will likely not stop smoking menthols. Joe Biden’s administration is going to have to force them to stop. And, somehow, in the name of black lives that will require President Joe to send men with badges and guns into black neighborhoods.
This is a nation already on edge anytime a police officer kills, shoots, hits, arrests a black person. What could possibly go wrong by making menthol cigarettes illegal?
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