A Kentucky Candidate Says No to Big Tobacco

Rep. Geoff Davis, R-KY4, isn't known for either intellect or political smarts. But by voting against federal regulation of tobacco when his Democratic challenger is a physician, he may have surpassed his own record of stupidity.

In response to Davis' vote, Dr. Michael Kelley wrote:

... So who would be opposed to a common sense idea such as FDA regulation of tobacco? Our current U.S. Representative, Geoff Davis. Once again Representative Davis has come out on the side of his big corporate campaign donors at the expense of the American public. He has voted against this bill which would protect Americans, and instead voted to protect Big Tobacco. In doing this he has voted for higher healthcare prices and for worse health for Kentuckians. (Kentucky has the highest adult smoking rate in the nation and 25% of Kentucky teens smoke.)

Davis claims that his ‘no’ vote was simply an effort to help the poor, overworked folks at the FDA, which “struggles to handle its current responsibilities.” How kind of him! But Davis and his ultra-conservative allies in Congress are partly to blame for the under-performance of important government agencies - since the conservative philosophy is to defund government until it is “small enough to drown in a bathtub.” Collapsing bridges, FEMA mismanagement, and an underperforming FDA are all linked to conservative distrust of, and under-investment in our government.

I am a practicing family doctor, and I see patients every day who are sick because of smoking. I cannot see how Representative Davis can stand to look at himself in the mirror after voting against common sense and the best interests of his constituents - unless he considers his true constituents to be his Big Money campaign donors. Geoff Davis’ voting record - one that proves he serves Big Money backers over the best interests of Americans - is why I chose to run against him. I can promise you this: if you elect me as your Representative, I will serve you – and never Big Money.

Read the whole thing.

If you don't live in a state where they grow tobacco, trust me when I say that in Kentucky opposing smoking, cheap cigarettes or Big Tobacco is an act of political courage. Although many Kentucky communities have banned smoking in public buildings and the amount of tobacco grown in the state has dropped significantly, opposing any part of the tobacco industry is still considered anti-farmer and anti-Kentucky, even by non-smokers.

Keep givin' 'em hell, Dr. Kelley.

Cross-posted at Blue in the Bluegrass.

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Does the government want blacks to smoke more?

It sure looks that way. Menthol, found most prominently in “urban-friendly” brands such as Kool and Newport, is getting kid-glove treatment?

A Congressional bill to give the Food and Drug Administration power to regulate cigarettes bans most flavored cigarettes, including clove and cinnamon ones.

Menthol?

Not a peep. (Nearly 75 percent of black smokers use menthol brands, compared with only about one in four white smokers.)

As the Times notes:

The reason menthol is seen as politically off limits, despite those concerns, is that mentholated brands are so crucial to the American cigarette industry. They make up more than one-fourth of the $70 billion American cigarette market and are becoming increasingly important to the industry leader, Philip Morris USA, without whose lobbying support the legislation might have no chance of passage.

Whenever Congress is in bed with Philip Morris, you know bad things are bound to happen.

Here’s the fallout that will happen. Many blacks will rightly think whites care less about them. Some will even raise the old conspiracy theory flag.

Supporters of the bill, even African-Americans, argue there’s no other way to pass it:

“I would have been in favor of banning menthol,” said Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, who supports the bill. “But as a practical matter that simply wasn’t doable.”

Even the head of the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network, a nonprofit group that has been adamantly against menthol, acknowledges that the ingredient needed to be off the bargaining table — for now — because he does not want to imperil the bill’s chances.

“The bottom line is we want the legislation,” said William S. Robinson, the group’s executive director. “But we want to reserve the right to address this issue at some critical point because of the percentage of people of African descent who use mentholated products.”

Fine. Pull the bill. Don’t postpone “someday” into an undefined future.

And, there’s other fallout. First, Philip Morris is lying about menthol. Congress, do you really want to go down the road of partnering with a brazen liar on this issue?

And, there’s other issues. Beyond the fact that menthol does make it easier to smoke, there’s concerns about menthol in cigs as a health issue:

Concerns about menthol have circulated since at least 1998, when the C.D.C. reported that menthol “may increase the absorption of harmful smoking constituents.”

Also, the taste of menthol may increase psychological dependence.

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