I have long been a critic of government bans on lawful products to prevent consumers from making poor health or lifestyle choices, including Michael Bloomberg’s failed effort to ban “Big Gulp” sodas. Now a group of African-American doctors are asking President Obama to ban the sale of menthol-flavored cigarettes because they are too popular with black smokers. We can certainly have a debate over a possible prohibition of tobacco products as inherently dangerous. However, if tobacco use remains lawful to smoke or sell (as I believe it should be), there are serious legal and policy problems with a ban on a product solely because it is too popular with one group.
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