“In line with what the President is calling for, we have to hold every drug user accountable because if there are no drug users there would be no appetite for drugs and there would be no market for them.”
-Joe Biden, 1989 Democratic Party response to G.H.W. Bushs’ drug war plans 18 years after the drug war began
Ladies and gentlemen, prohibition does not work. This can be said with impunity as you hold in your hands direct material evidence. No need to consult the bold and enlarged summary that results from a Google search, no need to check with social media fact checkers on leadstories dot com, no need to wait for a paid editorial from a party friendly source. If you still need further evidence, go and buy some liquor. It is an empirical fact that banning a thing from the market does not stop that thing from existing and being on a market. It does not stop users from wanting it, it does not stop dealers from selling it. It does not make it go away. It simply allows the government an opportunity to perpetuate oppression, destroy lives, steal money and goods, and intimidate people into making the life choices it prefers.
Drugs and alcohol are not the only victims of this tired idea, either. They did it to LGBTQIA+ individuals for decades. Banning them from society, all the while spitting rhetoric about how doing so would make the very desire to live life that way disappear. Expecting a ban to remove an existing concept the government considered a life choice it did not prefer, and intimidating people into living more in line with what its rigged evidence suggested. How did that turn out?
Time and again we see direct proof that laws, rules, bans, and mandates all do little to nothing in the way of ending what they claim to address. More times than not, these regulations are simply avenues for government corruption to manipulate, steal from, silence, hurt, and imprison those it seeks to oppress.
Black, gay, and poor people like to smoke menthol cigarettes, a gateway tobacco that leads to tobacco use, so no one can be trusted to make life choices on their own regarding menthol cigarettes. This statement is not the opinion of Tinfoil Hat Time, this is the opinion of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Your federal tax dollars, hard at work.
“Banning menthol - the last allowable flavor - in cigarettes and banning all flavors in cigars will help save lives, particularly among those disproportionately affected by these deadly products. With these actions, the FDA will help significantly reduce youth initiation, increase the chances of smoking cessation among current smokers, and address health disparities experienced by communities of color, low-income populations, and LGBTQ+ individuals, all of whom are far more likely to use these tobacco products,” says M.D. and Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock in the official press announcement released April 29th, 2021 (www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-commits-evidence-based-actions-aimed-saving-lives-and-preventing-future-generations-smokers). For any not familiar with the FDA, they are the compromised government agency that approves opioids and other pharmacological poisons regardless of how many horrific side effects they may contain, including death.
What conclusions did they draw from their undoubtedly costly evidence gathering, much of which includes data collected from youth surveys? According to the press announcement “The agency is taking urgent action to reduce tobacco addiction and curb deaths. There is strong evidence that a menthol ban will help people quit. Studies show that menthol increases the appeal of tobacco and facilitates progression to regular smoking, particularly among youth and young adults. Menthol masks unpleasant flavors and harshness of tobacco products, making them easier to start using.”
The FDA believes banning menthols will help people quit smoking. Ever tried to hide or trash someone’s smokes to get them to quit? Ever had anyone do that to you? Prohibition does not work, no matter the scale. Then, in what would seem like an effort to prove once and for all they have no clue as to what they are talking about, the FDA suggests that menthol cigarettes are a sort of gateway tobacco that entices people into smoking. Not a preference, not a personal choice in regards to flavor, nope, a key element to the continued use of tobacco. A statement I in my twenty-five years of tobacco use, nor any of the smokers I have asked since this press announcement, have ever heard. Some people like menthol, some do not. Some started with menthol, some did not. Individuals made individual choices based on multiple variables including the choices of their peer group, age they started and what they had access to, price of the product, marketing, branding, and other factors that were unique to their lives. Human beings are not numbers in a statistical data set and data collected from surveys is only as good as the questions asked, two facts the FDA either forgot, or is choosing to ignore and using to its advantage. The smart bet is on the latter, as this is nothing short of a brand new war on drugs, one they already admit to losing.
“After the 2009 statutory ban on flavors in cigarettes other than menthol, use of flavored cigars increased dramatically, suggesting that the public health goals of the flavored cigarette ban may have been undermined by continued availability of these flavored cigars.” In a statement as ominous as they come the FDA straight admits that they are chasing a pipe dream with bans. That their goals, which are divorced from those of the individuals, were “undermined” by free people choosing to adapt and acquire the product they want in the exact same way the goals of the war on drugs were thwarted. And when the menthol and flavored cigar smokers hop to another product? Anyone involved in the drug war at all can see where this will go, and where it will end. The FDA does.
“For far too long, certain populations, including African Americans, have been targeted, and disproportionately impacted by tobacco use. Despite the tremendous progress we’ve made in getting people to stop smoking over the past 55 years, that progress hasn’t been experienced by everyone equally,” admits the director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products Mitch Zeller, J.D., as he promotes a ban that will disproportionately impact these communities and targets them with his justification. Not a medical doctor at all, but a Juris Doctor, a three year law degree that comes before the bar exam, less than a lawyer, he has determined that he will save majority minorities from themselves by banning yet another piece of the tobacco pie. After admitting that bans do not work unless the whole pie is gone. He is either not smart, or just another top-down tyrannical hypocrite at home in an unconstitutional and corrupt three letter agency with an agenda separate from that of the American public.
Since a government for the people by the people could never, in the history of ever, have its’ goals undermined by the reactions of the people to its’ actions, it is safe to say based on empirical evidence (rather than statistical evidence gathered from surveys) that once again the latter is the truth. After all, this is the new drug war same as the old drug war. The latest effort to use numbers, fear, and certain segments of society to gain control over people’s lives and high demand products. A blatant slippery slope backward toward the exact same system we have been fighting to end.
Ladies and gentlemen, prohibition does not work. This can be said with impunity as you hold in your hands direct material evidence. No need to consult the bold and enlarged summary that results from a Google search, no need to check with social media fact checkers on leadstories dot com, no need to wait for a paid editorial from a party friendly source. If you still need further evidence, go and buy some liquor. It is an empirical fact that banning a thing from the market does not stop that thing from existing and being on a market. It does not stop users from wanting it, it does not stop dealers from selling it. It does not make it go away. It simply allows the government an opportunity to perpetuate oppression, destroy lives, steal money and goods, and intimidate people into making the life choices it prefers.
Drugs and alcohol are not the only victims of this tired idea, either. They did it to LGBTQIA+ individuals for decades. Banning them from society, all the while spitting rhetoric about how doing so would make the very desire to live life that way disappear. Expecting a ban to remove an existing concept the government considered a life choice it did not prefer, and intimidating people into living more in line with what its rigged evidence suggested. How did that turn out?
Time and again we see direct proof that laws, rules, bans, and mandates all do little to nothing in the way of ending what they claim to address. More times than not, these regulations are simply avenues for government corruption to manipulate, steal from, silence, hurt, and imprison those it seeks to oppress.
Black, gay, and poor people like to smoke menthol cigarettes, a gateway tobacco that leads to tobacco use, so no one can be trusted to make life choices on their own regarding menthol cigarettes. This statement is not the opinion of Tinfoil Hat Time, this is the opinion of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Your federal tax dollars, hard at work.
“Banning menthol - the last allowable flavor - in cigarettes and banning all flavors in cigars will help save lives, particularly among those disproportionately affected by these deadly products. With these actions, the FDA will help significantly reduce youth initiation, increase the chances of smoking cessation among current smokers, and address health disparities experienced by communities of color, low-income populations, and LGBTQ+ individuals, all of whom are far more likely to use these tobacco products,” says M.D. and Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock in the official press announcement released April 29th, 2021 (www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-commits-evidence-based-actions-aimed-saving-lives-and-preventing-future-generations-smokers). For any not familiar with the FDA, they are the compromised government agency that approves opioids and other pharmacological poisons regardless of how many horrific side effects they may contain, including death.
What conclusions did they draw from their undoubtedly costly evidence gathering, much of which includes data collected from youth surveys? According to the press announcement “The agency is taking urgent action to reduce tobacco addiction and curb deaths. There is strong evidence that a menthol ban will help people quit. Studies show that menthol increases the appeal of tobacco and facilitates progression to regular smoking, particularly among youth and young adults. Menthol masks unpleasant flavors and harshness of tobacco products, making them easier to start using.”
The FDA believes banning menthols will help people quit smoking. Ever tried to hide or trash someone’s smokes to get them to quit? Ever had anyone do that to you? Prohibition does not work, no matter the scale. Then, in what would seem like an effort to prove once and for all they have no clue as to what they are talking about, the FDA suggests that menthol cigarettes are a sort of gateway tobacco that entices people into smoking. Not a preference, not a personal choice in regards to flavor, nope, a key element to the continued use of tobacco. A statement I in my twenty-five years of tobacco use, nor any of the smokers I have asked since this press announcement, have ever heard. Some people like menthol, some do not. Some started with menthol, some did not. Individuals made individual choices based on multiple variables including the choices of their peer group, age they started and what they had access to, price of the product, marketing, branding, and other factors that were unique to their lives. Human beings are not numbers in a statistical data set and data collected from surveys is only as good as the questions asked, two facts the FDA either forgot, or is choosing to ignore and using to its advantage. The smart bet is on the latter, as this is nothing short of a brand new war on drugs, one they already admit to losing.
“After the 2009 statutory ban on flavors in cigarettes other than menthol, use of flavored cigars increased dramatically, suggesting that the public health goals of the flavored cigarette ban may have been undermined by continued availability of these flavored cigars.” In a statement as ominous as they come the FDA straight admits that they are chasing a pipe dream with bans. That their goals, which are divorced from those of the individuals, were “undermined” by free people choosing to adapt and acquire the product they want in the exact same way the goals of the war on drugs were thwarted. And when the menthol and flavored cigar smokers hop to another product? Anyone involved in the drug war at all can see where this will go, and where it will end. The FDA does.
“For far too long, certain populations, including African Americans, have been targeted, and disproportionately impacted by tobacco use. Despite the tremendous progress we’ve made in getting people to stop smoking over the past 55 years, that progress hasn’t been experienced by everyone equally,” admits the director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products Mitch Zeller, J.D., as he promotes a ban that will disproportionately impact these communities and targets them with his justification. Not a medical doctor at all, but a Juris Doctor, a three year law degree that comes before the bar exam, less than a lawyer, he has determined that he will save majority minorities from themselves by banning yet another piece of the tobacco pie. After admitting that bans do not work unless the whole pie is gone. He is either not smart, or just another top-down tyrannical hypocrite at home in an unconstitutional and corrupt three letter agency with an agenda separate from that of the American public.
Since a government for the people by the people could never, in the history of ever, have its’ goals undermined by the reactions of the people to its’ actions, it is safe to say based on empirical evidence (rather than statistical evidence gathered from surveys) that once again the latter is the truth. After all, this is the new drug war same as the old drug war. The latest effort to use numbers, fear, and certain segments of society to gain control over people’s lives and high demand products. A blatant slippery slope backward toward the exact same system we have been fighting to end.
