Up in Smoke: Black Activists Slam Kathy Hochul for Proposed Menthol Cigarette Ban

“You’re going to be the black person who took Newport cigarettes from Africans.” You would not be reelected. N.Y. Gov. Kathy Hochul (Getty Images).

Black activists are criticizing Kathy Hochul (D.), New York Governor, for her decision to ban flavored tobacco products and allow rampant access to marijuana.

“You’re telling me that my 21-year-old son can buy all the cannabis he wants, but my grandmother who’s been smoking for 65 years can’t get a cigarette? It doesn’t make sense,” said Corey Pegues, a retired black New York Police Department executive who is urging lawmakers to reject Hochul’s proposal.

Pegues said the governor’s proposed legislation, which was tucked in her Jan. 10 State of the State PlanIt will adversely affect black voters. Critics say the proposal came as a shock to outside experts who would have warned about the policy’s racial bias.

Hochul is the latest Democrat who has angered black activists by banning flavored tobacco. Eighty-five per cent of black smokers smoke menthol cigarettes, while only 30 percent use it. According According to the CDC. Experts Beware that the Biden administration’s 2022 proposal to ban flavored tobacco products would be a boon for criminal cartels who would become the only source for menthol smokers to get their fix. Critics of Hochul’s proposal echoed those claims, noting that increased crime in black neighborhoods could further exacerbate tension with the police.

TheActivists said Washington Free Beacon Hochul could lose the support of her community if she gets her way. Important She was able to win her first term in 2022 thanks to her voting bloc.

“Hochul didn’t run on this. She would have been defeated. Black people wouldn’t have voted for her,” Pegues said. “Whoever passes this ban is going to be the boogeyman. Think about this. You are going to be the person that took Newport cigarettes from black people. You would never get reelected again, I promise you.”

Wayne Harris, chairman, stated that Hochul is being looked after by the Law Enforcement Action Partnership. “specifically targeting people of color” Her proposed ban. Hochul claimed that her policy, if it is approved by the New York State Legislature will prevent 22,000 youths turning to adult smoking.

Harris said that flavored cigarettes were no more addictive than their natural counterparts, and asked the governor why he doesn’t seem to be interested in banning tobacco products.