House Passes Racist, Homophobic Flavored Tobacco Ban
One of only two Black Reps accuses colleagues of “dehumanizing Black and LGBTQ adults.”
The Vermont House of Representatives passed S.18 - An act relating to banning flavored tobacco products and e-liquids. The roll call vote was 83-53 with handful of Democrats and Progressives joining all but one Republican in opposing the measure. While there are many reasons to object to such a ban, the most compelling floor speech came from Representative Saudia LaMont (D-Morristown), who is one of only two Black members of the House. (The other Black member, Kevin “Coach” Christie (D-Hartford) also voted against the bill.)
LaMont spoke passionately for fifteen minutes, often needing to pause for several seconds to collect her emotions. Here are some highlights:
To say we are going to ban menthol products and then explicitly say because it is the preferred choice of a specific demographic without naming that there are other things that are illicit that are specific to other demographics feels targeted and harmful. It says that Black people and LGBTQ+ people are not intelligent enough to come up with our own decisions and articulate their own vices with autonomy….
Harm reduction. I know many people who use cigarettes as a step down from illicit substances or other harmful or addictive behaviors. I know people who use vaping as a step down and harm reduction from cigarettes. I have literally had people tell me I went from smoking a pack a day to vaping three to five times a day, and they feel proud.
Harm reduction. This body recently passed legislation with a harm reduction model of safe injection sites. So, this body agreed to allow spaces to go up where people can use illicit substances – illegal substances – as harm reduction, but people of color cannot use legal substances because they can’t make decisions for themselves. It requires legislation to ban it because they are not competent to make informed decisions. [Emphasis in original.]
There is no such thing as a healthy cigarette. And to be clear, I cannot stand the smell of cigarettes. It makes me sick to my stomach. And yet I do believe in free will for adults. I do believe that adults should have the right to choose their own vices, whether it be coffee, whether it be cigarettes, whether it be sugar, whether it be sex, whether it be work. We all have vices. Addiction is addiction is addiction. And when you trade one vice for another, adults should have the opportunity to make that choice for themselves….
It's the hypocrisy for me. It’s the saying that one demographic has the right to do something and the other doesn’t. It’s the over-policing under the false premise of protecting the children…. I will say, much to my dismay, in the very perverse ways this body has used the word ‘equity’ while at the same time dehumanizing Black and LGBTQ adults.
Yeah, pretty much!
I’m happy for your revelation that Democrats’ talk about diversity, equity and inclusion is really just a steaming crock-full of genuine Vermont cow pies covering up the sociopathic desire of college-indoctrinated, upper-income, mostly white wokesters to control the lives and choices of everyone else, whom they deem morally and intellectually inferior. That doesn’t just apply just to BIPOC and LGBTQ folks when it comes to smoking, Rep. LaMont. It applies to everybody. And everything. If you really do believe in respecting and preserving free will for adults, you’re in the wrong political party. But it’s not too late to change!
LaMont also called out supporters of the flavored tobacco ban for lying about how tobacco companies target children and minorities with their advertising. “As a Black woman who grew up in a Black community, I was not targeted with ads as a child…. I’ve actually recently looked up ads on vaping. I haven’t seen a menthol cigarette ad in many many years. And every time I try to look up ads on vaping, the only ads I see are the prevention ads that are put forward.” She noted that although advertising was an issue in the past, it’s not anymore. Using a false claim to justify passage of a bill, she says, “is a problem for me.” Good! But just a friendly warning, if you plan on voting no on every bill your colleagues use false “facts” to justify, get your red pen out. You’re going to need it!
And, for what it’s worth, LaMont recounted a conversation with her thirteen-year-old daughter about S.18. “I explained this bill to her, and I asked her if she thought it would make a difference [in youth smoking/vaping]. She said ‘no.’” The kid is right. This ban won’t work.
In fact, after Massachusetts banned menthol flavored tobacco products, sales for those same products increased in neighboring states by an amount even HIGHER than the levels of reduction achieved in Massachusetts. As the Reason Foundation reported,
In the 12-month period following the implementation of the comprehensive flavor ban in Massachusetts, the state sold 29.96 million fewer (22.24% less) cigarette packs compared to the prior year. However, a total of 33.3 million additional cigarette packs were sold during the same post-ban period in the counties that bordered Massachusetts in the states of Connecticut (3.05 million additional packs), New Hampshire (25.84 million), New York (1.04 million), Rhode Island (6.01 million), and Vermont (1.21 million). Thus, considering the change in cigarette sales in the entire six-state region, there was a net increase of 7.21 million additional cigarette packs sold in the 12 months after the menthol cigarette ban in Massachusetts, a 1.28% increase in cigarette sales compared to the prior 12-month period before the ban.
So, Massachusetts lost tax revenue while likely increasing the amount of usage of the “banned” product amongst its citizenry, the net result being a less healthy population with fewer financial resources to deal with the healthcare and addiction problems stemming from that outcome. Throw Representative LaMont’s charges of racism and homophobia into the bargain, and we’re ready cue up the single person, sarcastic slow clap.
S.18 now goes back to the Senate, which will contemplate changes made by the House and decide whether or not to move forward. Governor Scott has not yet indicated if he will support or veto the bill should it reach his desk.
Rob Roper is a freelance writer with 20 years of experience in Vermont politics including three years service as chair of the Vermont Republican Party and nine years as President of the Ethan Allen Institute, Vermont’s free market think tank.
Regardless of Representative LaMont's reasons for objecting to another nanny-state bill, I am sick of legislators imposing an ever-changing morality on the rest of us.
When one of every 5 pregnancies in Vermont is aborted, with the blessing of virtually everyone on the state payroll, they have no credibility when legislating our well being.