FDA Moves to Ban All Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars

Re:FDA Moves to Ban All Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars by jedberg on Thursday April 29, 2021 @05:35PM (#26987092)

No, but it would make sense to put a health tax on salt. Make people bear their external costs. Like a carbon tax.

Just make sure you have a dividend that goes back to the poor to make up for the regressiveness of such taxes.

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Re:FDA Moves to Ban All Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars by rcoveson on Thursday April 29, 2021 @05:44PM (#26987184)

The idea that my own health is an external cost is crazy. How do you tax a free solo rock climber like Alex Honnold? A 1000% tax on chalk dust?

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Re:FDA Moves to Ban All Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars by awillen on Thursday April 29, 2021 @09:07PM (#26988802)

This actually reminds me of https://www.npr.org/2019/01/03/681877909/sailboat-from-u-s-t...

I think that in situations like that, you ought to cover the cost of a potential rescue up front, either by paying for an insurance policy or putting down a deposit. People search until your deposit/insurance runs out, then they stop. If you don't survive, that's on you. There's just absolutely no reason that anyone's tax dollars should be spent to help someone who performs a totally needless and incredibly dangerous activity of their own volition.

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Re:FDA Moves to Ban All Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars by rcoveson on Friday April 30, 2021 @12:26AM (#26989820)

The issue is that, when you get down to it, it’s just going out into the wilderness and climbing a rock. If you regulate that, you’ve made a wrong turn.

Same goes for surfing, or having consensual, unprotected sex. Both dangerous, or at least much more dangerous than the average human activity, but both too basic and natural to consider regulating. In my opinion.

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