Big Sister Is Babysitting You!

Wolseley said:

Personally, I think that smoking is a disgusting habit; it's smelly, dirty, expensive, and it does awful things to your lungs.

But---is it really the Feddle Gummint's job to run around after you and take things away from you because using them is a bad choice? It is, after all, *YOUR* choice, not theirs. And, if Big Sister can take menthol cigarettes away from you because "it's for your own good", what's going to taken away next?

Guns, certainly; we all know they're dangerous. Sports cars? Motorcycles? Alcohol? (Oh, wait: they tried that one once before---it didn't end well.)

Maybe they'll ban rock climbing and downhill skiing---you can get hurt doing that. And donkey tours at the Grand Canyon will have to go, as well as all highways through the Rockies will have to be closed....steep sides, yanno. Surfboarding. Hang gliding. Boxing. Professional football (not that that would be a great loss). Diving into swimming pools. Woodworking, at least with power tools.

Apparently, Joe feels the first job of The Government is to be a constant nag, taking things away from you and putting them out of your reach for your good---your personal freedoms and liberties can go hang.

Why Joe Biden Is Banning Menthol Cigarettes (msn.com)

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Wolseley said:

Personally, I think that smoking is a disgusting habit; it's smelly, dirty, expensive, and it does awful things to your lungs.

But---is it really the Feddle Gummint's job to run around after you and take things away from you because using them is a bad choice? It is, after all, *YOUR* choice, not theirs. And, if Big Sister can take menthol cigarettes away from you because "it's for your own good", what's going to taken away next?

Guns, certainly; we all know they're dangerous. Sports cars? Motorcycles? Alcohol? (Oh, wait: they tried that one once before---it didn't end well.)

Maybe they'll ban rock climbing and downhill skiing---you can get hurt doing that. And donkey tours at the Grand Canyon will have to go, as well as all highways through the Rockies will have to be closed....steep sides, yanno. Surfboarding. Hang gliding. Boxing. Professional football (not that that would be a great loss). Diving into swimming pools. Woodworking, at least with power tools.

Apparently, Joe feels the first job of The Government is to be a constant nag, taking things away from you and putting them out of your reach for your good---your personal freedoms and liberties can go hang.

Why Joe Biden Is Banning Menthol Cigarettes (msn.com)

Click to expand...

The Transcendentian said:

Saying "Big Sister" somehow feels more accurate than "Big Brother" for our current politics.

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Tinker Grey said:

I guess I can see that. However, the news reports are talking about menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. This makes me think that the law makers don't understand the subject on which they are legislation. (And typically, cigar smokers don't bring the smoke into their lungs. If you try it once, you're not likely to do it twice.)

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trunks2k said:

It's a couple things - the menthol being less likely to irritate your lungs and the general flavoring being appealing to kids. IIRC there's been communications uncovered from tobacco executives where they discus the benefit of flavored tobacco being more appealing to teens.

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The IbanezerScrooge said:

This was the reasoning I heard as well. If its true that execs are actively targeting teens which, from marketing standpoint makes perfect sense, it's pretty disgusting. I too am not in favor of a full ban, but I'm for regulating the crud out of it and making it less appealing to teens and people smoking pretty much anywhere but in their personal property.

One direction to come at it from might be littering. Cigarette butts are the most littered item on Earth. If they toughened the litter laws a bit, but more importantly ramped up enforcement of them, smokers would be hit pretty hard in the wallet, which tends to be an effective deterrent to the behavior.

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Wolseley said:

Personally, I think that smoking is a disgusting habit; it's smelly, dirty, expensive, and it does awful things to your lungs.

But---is it really the Feddle Gummint's job to run around after you and take things away from you because using them is a bad choice? It is, after all, *YOUR* choice, not theirs. And, if Big Sister can take menthol cigarettes away from you because "it's for your own good", what's going to taken away next?

Guns, certainly; we all know they're dangerous. Sports cars? Motorcycles? Alcohol? (Oh, wait: they tried that one once before---it didn't end well.)

Maybe they'll ban rock climbing and downhill skiing---you can get hurt doing that. And donkey tours at the Grand Canyon will have to go, as well as all highways through the Rockies will have to be closed....steep sides, yanno. Surfboarding. Hang gliding. Boxing. Professional football (not that that would be a great loss). Diving into swimming pools. Woodworking, at least with power tools.

Apparently, Joe feels the first job of The Government is to be a constant nag, taking things away from you and putting them out of your reach for your good---your personal freedoms and liberties can go hang.

Why Joe Biden Is Banning Menthol Cigarettes (msn.com)

Click to expand...

Tinker Grey said:

Well, I did some rudimentary googling. It seems menthol numbs the irritation in the lungs which potentially gives one a false sense of security with respect to the safety of smoking them.

I guess I can see that. However, the news reports are talking about menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. This makes me think that the law makers don't understand the subject on which they are legislation. (And typically, cigar smokers don't bring the smoke into their lungs. If you try it once, you're not likely to do it twice.)

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renniks said:

Taking away cigs while legalized weed is everywhere. How does that make sense?

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