The ACLU, National Action Network, Center for Popular Democracy, and others are mad at Democrats, including Chris Pappas and Annie Kuster. The US House recently advanced legislation they claim, “promises continued over-criminalization and mass incarceration of people of color.”
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They argue that the “blanket prohibition on menthol and other flavored tobacco products” in H.R. 2339, while well-intentioned,
…will (1) disproportionately impact people and communities of color; (2) trigger criminal penalties, prioritizing criminalization over public health and harm reduction; and (3) instigate unconstitutional policing and other negative interactions with local law enforcement.
In the jargon of the self-proclaimed Party of “Black People,” the bill is racist.
Ann Kuster, Chris Pappas, 206 other Democrats, and 5 Republicans supported the bill, which is dual purpose. It seeks to attack tobacco and vaping in a heavy-handed effort to keep young people from becoming addicted to nicotine. Irony alert, leftists – Socialism is far worse for the “yutes” than tobacco and Democrats are all in on getting them addicted to that.
H.R. 2339 prohibits menthol and other flavored tobacco products under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). This prohibition criminalizes the manufacturing, importing, distributing, or selling of menthol and other flavored tobacco products under the FD&C Act, imposing up to three years of imprisonment.4 Violating a menthol and flavored tobacco ban would implicate other federal criminal penalties as well. For example, the Federal Cigarette Contraband Trafficking Act would be implicated, allowing up to five years of imprisonment.
People of color overwhelmingly prefer menthol flavored tobacco, vape products, and flavored cigars (also affected) and, as such, would “disproportionately bear the brunt of enforcement of such prohibitions, which a menthol ban would ensure.”
While the Washington Free Beacon notes that Senate Majority Leader McConnell favors federal legislation raising the tobacco age to 21, “the bill’s poor performance among House Republicans suggests that it is likely to have few friends in the GOP-controlled Senate.”
