A $5 Million ~~Donation~~ Bribe From Big Tobacco Preceded F.D.A. Vape Decision
Fixed
this post was submitted on 24 May 2026
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politics
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Is it only me or are politicians really, really cheap to buy?
It would take way more than 5 million dollaroos to have me give up my integrity. Especially when it is that obvious.
That assumes they had integrity to begin with.
True
five million is strangely high. normally it's like 35 grand.
Imagine you get 5 mill per day though
There is no definitive evidence linking the new F.D.A. guidance to the lunch, the donation or specific lobbying.
And yet...
At the lunch, the tobacco industry representatives expressed dissatisfaction with the way the Food and Drug Administration was regulating the industry
Mr. Trump interrupted the conversation to call Dr. Marty Makary, the F.D.A. commissioner.
When Mr. Makary did not answer, the president dialed Dr. Makary’s boss, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and another top health official, Dr. Mehmet Oz
Less than one week later, the F.D.A. issued new guidance that could pave the way for major tobacco companies to begin selling flavored vapes and to snare a chunk of the $6 billion e-cigarette market away from illegal Chinese competitors.
What's the point of being stupid-rich if you're still beholden to any asshole that can raise a million dollars in donations?
How is it that his supporters see him as anything other than weak, craven, a broken man, driven by a gaping maw of need where other people have some kind of self-respect?
Unpopular opinion: I think we should be able to have flavored vapes. We have flavored cigars, flavored weed products, flavored alcohol, flavored medicine…it is dumb to think that vapes and cigarettes should be excluded from flavor for safety. If you want to stop kids from vaping, then apply the laws that already exist and start running some stings on convenience stores.
Furthermore, I see flavored Chinese vapes in every corner store in my state and the adjacent one. It seems that restricting the domestic manufacture of them has done diddly squat to reduce their availability.
I used vapes to quit cigarettes, and then patches and gum, and now it's been close to 3 years since I last smoked. Changing the flavor depending on my mood was I think really good to dissassociate tobacco taste from the nicotine addiction. In my area there was a shop that made everything to-order, had a bunch of crazy recipes that changed every week and you could step the nicotine down to any %. He shook it up right there, it was a chill place too with games and vending machines while you wait. No judgement, very personal. Every time I came in he constantly tried to ask if I qualify for some discount or another, 'are you a member of the local church?', 'are you a firefighter?', and I'd have to keep saying no until he just picked a random one to apply lol.
They targeted vapes after wide adoption so the big cigarette manufacturers can cannibalize the established vape companies after tanking their market value.
Shocked Pikachu.jpg
This is ~~shocking~~ normal.
It may not be shocking. But do not call it normal.
well considering how long this kind of situation has existed, i would say its more normal than most things going on right now.
Agreed. Hawaii is paving the way around CU.
Just blatant corruption in the highest levels of government, what's new?
OP fucked up the headline.