Massachusetts Senate Uses a Big Tobacco Tactic: Votes Not to Allocate Master Settlement Agreement Money to Smoking Prevention and Cessation; In that Light, the Flavor Ban is Disingenuous

Anyone who thought the Massachusetts state Senate ' s probable passage of a bill tonight that will ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and menthol tobacco cigarettes is motivated by a pure desire to protect kids and reduce tobacco-related diseases is mistaken. The supporters of this legislation showed their true colors tonight by rejecting an amendment that would have required that the state allocate a mere 10% of the money it receives from the Master Settlement Agreement to smoking prevention and cessation programs.It was quite a sight to witness. Senator after senator got up and spoke about how terrible smoking is and how we have to protect kids from tobacco and nicotine and fight Big Tobacco and their devious tactics.And then, they used a classic Big Tobacco tactic themselves from voting to continue the diversion of nearly 100% of the Master Settlement Agreement money to non-tobacco-related causes.It seems disingenuous to me to put on a grand political show about how much you care about the problem of tobacco use and smoking and nicotine addiction and how much we need to protect kids from Big Tobacco and its deceptive tactics and then to follow that up by immediately using a classic Big Tobacco strategy yourself and by refusing to put your money where your mouth is by adequately funding smoking prevention and cessation programs in the state.To be honest, I stood motionless and in shock as I watched the roll called and senator after senator voted to continue the diversion...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs