Tobacco Companies: Convicted of Violating Civil Racketeering, Moving on to Do Same (or Worse) For the Next Generation. RAD.

Washington Post writer Del Quentin Wilber penned today's piece regarding the federal appeals court that upheld Judge Gladys Kessler's original finding for the tobacco industry, namely, that they "violated civil racketeering laws by lying to the public about the dangers of their product."

(The article ought to be read in its entirety because it's outrageous and, frankly, totally gross.)

So, if you're a tobacco-industry company and your industry is, pardon the lame-ass pun, going up in flames, what with all the recent banning by states of smoking in public, where do you turn for your next big infusion of profit?

TO THE (ignorant, easily-preyed-upon) KIDS!!

Senator Merkley, my state's freshman senator of AWESOME, however, is on the job.  To wit: keeping the 'baccy bums from giving out tobacco candy, yes, TOBACCO CANDY, to our children, through an (already-approved) amendment, the Merkley/Brown amendment, to the Senate Health Committee; it provides the FDA with the legal authority to regulate tobacco products, and none too soon.  The candies have already been introduced in three markets:  Indianapolis, Indiana, Columbus, Ohio, and my town, Portland, Oregon.  (Brazen.)  And get this tidbit: according to the bulletin sent to me by Mr. Merkley's media director, Sarah Lane Pierle, the companies producing this poison are overtly canvassing our kids.

With brightly colored packages and candy flavors, it’s obvious that these products are attractive to children.   The packages are actually shaped like cell phones to make them easier to hide from parents and teachers.  And from a short distance, both the packages and tablets resemble mint containers.  Janitors are already finding used packages in schools.

The Indiana Poison Control Center estimates that dissolvable tobacco products like the Camel Orbs contain between 60 to 300 percent of the nicotine in one cigarette.

Here's a video featuring the Senator as he discusses the nature of the product during a recent Q&A:

Thank you, Senator, for doing your job so well.  The future of our kids' health depends on such legislation.

Comments

[cynematic]

Yup, just as you say, the "tobacco candy" is packaged to resemble cell phones, and they look like innocent breath mints. Deceptive!

Grrrrrr. There's something sociopathic in how tobacco companies pursue profit over commonly held values like decency or honesty. I appreciate it when government intervenes on the public's behalf like this.