The Biden administration said Friday it would again delay a decision on a regulation aiming to ban menthol-flavored cigarettes, citing the “historic attention” and “immense amount of feedback” on the controversial proposal by the Food and Drug Administration.
“This rule has garnered historic attention and the public comment period has yielded an immense amount of feedback, including from various elements of the civil rights and criminal justice movement,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.
Devil’s Advocate- What is the benefit of cigarettes other than satisfying an already established addiction? Alcohol aids socialization, marijuana has countless benefits, even fentanyl is an effective painkiller. Keep in mind, nicotine can be taken without cigarettes.
I’m not for governmental control or banning myself, but it’s an argument that I’ve heard that I find rather compelling.
I think nicotine has positive affects staving off dementia? I can’t recall where I heard that or if it’s true so know that I have low confidence in this. But nicotine itself, through patches, “snus”, or other “non-cigarette” consumption methods that are less destructive, should be permitted.
I see no problem with people having a chemical dependency on nicotine if they choose it.
The method of imbibing is the only part I’m focused on because inhalation of tobacco/menthol products causes so much harm, and the product can still be enjoyed without that method of imbibing.
If someone wants to assemble their own menthol cigs, like how people brew/distill their own alcohol… I suppose that is fine also.
I keep going in circles on this, I’m fairly conflicted and the more I think about it the more I realize how hard this is. In reality we want to ban a method od consumption, not the chemical itself.
Right. Nicotine has benefits, but it can be taken independently of smoking. The rest of the cigarette is carcinogenic.