Sure, but only if the revenue is used to directly benefit those who are bearing its burden. Raise the cigarette tax and use the money to fund anti-smoking programs and services, research, and treatment for smokers, especially in poorer communities and communities of color, and the policy is no longer regressive but progressive. It could reduce, rather than exacerbate existing income and health inequities.

Senator Blumenthal is also a phony and a hypocrite as he, too, has failed to sponsor legislation to ban menthol cigarettes (he was not a Senator in 2009 so did not vote for the original menthol exemption).

The Rest of the Story

The rest of the story is that in a tragic reversal of the historical functions of public health viz a viz industry, it is now the e-cigarette companies that are attempting to undermine cigarette smoking while the health groups, led by CDC and FDA, are protecting the cigarette market by undermining the anti-smoking messages from the e-cigarette industry.

The stark truth is, nicotine is one of the most additive substances there is, if not the most addictive substance in the world. It does not help that tobacco companies adds over 601 chemicals to tobacco to make them more addictive. It is extremely difficult to keep people from smoking once they start.

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