I learned a LOT at the Tobacco End Game Summit in Washington DC last week. On the verge of tears, I found “my people” in large numbers like I’ve never seen before from many countries and many states. I’ve had to become pretty expert in smokeless cannabis, commercial tobacco, nicotine, and many other nuances to be a better activist to save as many lives as I can with the help of those who are awake enough to pay attention to this continuing nightmare of death and destruction everywhere we turn still. If anyone is interested in hearing more about the INHERENT racism and other historical truths that have brought us to where we are today, please reach out. I’ll privately send you some of the talking points I learned that will hopefully resonate with anyone who cares about health equity. One point that really hit home also was that it’s the government’s JOB to protect us and our health, so why are they doing such a poor job of that after centuries of devastation from and exploitation with this bastardized product?

While my decision to vote for the Democratic ticket is not in doubt, I’m GRAVELY disappointed in this terrible decision that the Biden administration has made by kowtowing to the poison peddlers also known as Big Tobacco who have targeted Black Lives (disproportionately) with these flavored products used to mask the harshness of this highly addictive drug that has been marketed to people of color for decades since their lives matter even less to Tobacco Fat Cats than the rest of us human biological experiments. I’m proud that at least California had the sense to ban menthol, but Big Tobacco was at the ready to immediately start issuing identically marketed “non-menthol” products to continue poisoning people who smoke with their commercial tobacco without missing a beat. Anyone who supports BLM should know that far more Black people are killed by this product when used as intended than any other cause, and 8 million people are killed a year by this product worldwide, including 400,000 in the United States alone, making it THE MOST preventable cause of death. It’s the least regulated product in the world and we are still tolerating it for the profit of a few. There are far more of us who should be up in arms that those profiting. Where is the OUTRAGE?!

At least this article correctly points out that Al Sharpton is fighting to keep menthol cigarettes available. There is HARD PROOF he receives tobacco underwriting if you look at the fine print of his speaking tours. He’s literally receiving payola and blood money to kill Black people, so if you didn’t have a reason to dislike this fake progressive in the past, now you do.