Big Tobacco Employing Black Leaders in an Effort to Resist Menthol Bans

[6souls]

R.J. Reynolds has hired Al Sharpton & ex-Florida Congressman Kendrick B. Meek to hold Town Meetings in Black Churches under the guise of "Decriminalizing the Black Community"

Sharpton and Meek, along with speakers from groups involved in criminal justice reform, have warned of the unintended consequences of banning cigarettes with the minty, throat-numbing additive–namely, the risk of creating an underground market and giving police new reasons to lock up black males. The meetings have been held at churches in Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Oakland, and in other forums.

Reynolds makes Newport cigarettes, the most popular menthol and the No. 2 U.S. cigarette brand overall, with a market share of nearly 14 percent. The company has paid travel costs for the panelists and contributed to their organizations, according to the panelists and Reynolds spokesman David Howard.

Anti-smoking advocates have blasted the campaign as deceptive and a scare tactic. “How can the tobacco industry care about criminalization when they don’t even care about killing you?’’ said LaTrisha Vetaw, who attended a Jan. 25 meeting at the Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Minneapolis, where a few dozen people turned out to hear Sharpton and be treated to a lunch of chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and cake.

https://www.minnpost.com/politics-po...ack-leaders-an

[Xno Kappa]

LMAO!

[Karbuncle]

Let's start with "this discriminates against blacks cause you're all criminals" and dive straight into "Chicken n tatters".

Go big or go home Big Tobacco, eh?

I could go for some chicken and mashed potatoes though.

[Krandor]

I know it was a joke in Chappelle years ago, but have we figured out why black people smoke menthols yet?

[Andalusian girls]

the leading theory is its a vestigial remnant of tobacco companies marketing menthols directly to black audiences over the years. Kool and Newport in particular targeted the jazz and hip hop worlds which were (are?) disproportionately black.

while Marlboro stuck with cowboys there was this

[tyven]

the leading theory is its a vestigial remnant of tobacco companies marketing menthols directly to black audiences over the years. Kool and Newport in particular targeted the jazz and hip hop worlds which were (are?) disproportionately black.

while Marlboro stuck with cowboys there was this

uh someone hasn't seen La La Land. Jazz belongs to whites now

[archibaldcrane]

Menthols are being banned?

[dasva]

Menthols are being banned?

In the U.S.? Nothing definite right now on the national level might be some local ones. There's been talks and talk about the fda reexamining whether to ban them based advisory panels and other countries have been banning them so maybe...

[Ragnus]

I know that menthols were potentially on the chopping block when the Obama Administration banned candy and fruit flavored cigarettes in the "Stop Kids From Being Preyed On By Big Tobacco Act" of 2009. I'm still fucking pissed because I enjoyed a clove cigarette on occasion.

Still wrapping my head around Sharpton doing this. He's been, well, better in recent years from what I can tell.

[Anoat]

the leading theory is its a vestigial remnant of tobacco companies marketing menthols directly to black audiences over the years. Kool and Newport in particular targeted the jazz and hip hop worlds which were (are?) disproportionately black.

while Marlboro stuck with cowboys there was this

And Newport made their logo the reversed Nike swoosh, come on wake up sheeple

[Krandor]

Still wrapping my head around Sharpton doing this. He's been, well, better in recent years from what I can tell.

$

[Salodin]

And Newport made their logo the reversed Nike swoosh, come on wake up sheeple

I lost

[archibaldcrane]

I swear my nextdoor neighbor smokes cloves on the front stoop every day. They sure smell like cloves - but those have been banned since 2009.

Now I'm curious.

[Ragnus]

Stores are getting around the ban somehow. There's a convenience store in the town I moved to a few years ago that sells them because the franchise owner smokes them, but that's it.

[dasva]

Stores are getting around the ban somehow. There's a convenience store in the town I moved to a few years ago that sells them because the franchise owner smokes them, but that's it.

Are they actually cigarettes? I think "Little cigars" get around the ban it seems and are pretty much the same thing aside from what they are rolled in. Otherwise the ban is supposed to apply to all sales and even most possession last I saw

[archibaldcrane]

Yeah, I'm guessing they are the reformulated Djarum Black "little cigars" in the 12 pack.

from wiki:

As of 2010, in the United States Djarum Blacks are available again in smaller 12 pack cigars, which are much thicker than the cigarettes that come in 20 packs.

When the flavored rule was passed in 2009, the FDA didn't regulate cigars (or e-cigs or hookah, etc.). In December of last year they finalized a rule giving the FDA the ability to regulate all tobacco/nicotine products, but a subsequent regulation banning the candy/clove flavorings of "cigars" hasn't occurred.

What’s the timeline?

The FDA expects that manufacturers will continue selling their products for up to two years while they submit—and an additional year while the FDA reviews—a new tobacco product application.
The FDA will issue an order to give marketing authorization where appropriate. Otherwise, the product will face FDA enforcement.

So it will be a few years at least until the FDA changes the rules for those newly covered products.

[Fiye]

https://www.thetruth.com/fact-search...ican+americans

So uh this has started to become a focus of the truth campaign