Ads and social media targeted to Black people said that "she will take your menthol cigarettes away." Thats probably why the administration held off on the ban.

People addicted to menthol cigarettes aren't going to be happy if they're banned. I remember the constant complaints from smokers when NC finally banned smoking in restaurants and public buildings.

The right-wing uses public health measures to turn people against the government.

It's one of the difficult things about democracy.

Many long Covid people are getting some relief from nicotine patches - the ones used by people to stop smoking. Studies say it can increase dopamine- probably why so many smoke.

Also, acetylcholine and nicotine have the same receptors and research has shown small amts of nicotine help our acetylcholine receptors work better. So now, many Long Covid patients are taking mini amts of nicotine thru patches.

“Is the post-COVID-19 syndrome a severe impairment of acetylcholine-orchestrated neuromodulation that responds to nicotine administration?”

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9845100/

I generally believe that people have the right to consume substances as long as it doesn’t affect another person. But it’s true that menthol has been targeted towards black people. So I’m ambivalent about the subject.

Imagine how many lives would have been saved and the impact on health care costs had they done so.

Now here we are 15 years later, and they are still dragging their feet.

people addicted to a substance just stop using it when it's banned.

And while they are at it maybe tack on more federal tax and do something about reservation sales.