• JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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    8 months ago

    Massachusetts banned the sale of menthol cigarettes and I always found that as a surprisingly racist move.

    Sure, white people smoke menthol…sometimes. But proportionally, far more black people smoke menthol, and far more black smokers choose menthol.

    Now, I quit smoking many years ago (thank fuck), but we had Newport Reds as a rather new variety when I was nearing the end of my smoking tenure. They were non-menthol, while Newport is traditionally a menthol brand, and these were in a red pack. Non-menthol. They were hard as fuck. I loved them.

    Now, the menthol ban had been in place a while at this point, as I said, non-smoker. I had gone out for some beers and was trying to find a pack of my friends brand, as she had fallen on hard times and I thought it a nice gestur. Her brand was Camel Crush, which starts of regular and has a menthol bead in the filter which can be “crushed” to make it a menthol cigarette). I found it to be completely unavailable after like three shops. Thats how I found out about the ban.

    I asked about the green pack of Newports. Turns out they are non-menthol, and that pissed off a lot of unsuspecting people.

    Thank you for attending my TEE talk. Souvenir belt onions are available in the lobby.