22nd Century Group Inc (XXII)

[Vincenzo Pall]

Big Tobacco is not going to take VLN sitting down. R.J.Reynolds' Newport menthol has 1/3 of the menthol market. They explicitly support and fund one of the foundations run by "The Rev. Al Sharpton." He recently secured a meeting for himself and the cig lobby with the White House so he could denounce the menthol ban. He has explicitly said, perhaps out of ignorance, that the ban will give the cops another excuse to brutalize Black smokers. He was preaching that the ban is against individual Black smokers when in fact, the ban prohibits the manufacture of addictive menthol cigarettes and in no way makes it illegal to smoke menthol cigarettes or give the police an incentive to bother any smoker.