Once upon a time, free cigarettes were handed out at Congressional Black Caucus events and Rep. Edolphus Towns was referred to as "Marlboro Man" as a nod to his campaign contributions from Big Tobacco. None of this goes on anymore, but the CBC still has a complicated relationship with the tobacco industry, which makes the recent flavored-cigarette ban a sticky problem. Many think that the bill, which bans all flavored cigarettes except for menthols, which are disproportionately smoked by blacks, has racial implications. It's causing a rift in a CBC already divided over the Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton drama.

“It’s a very emotional issue,” said Elijah E. Cummings, a member of the caucus from Maryland who tells stories of the deadly impact of cigarette smoking in his hometown, Baltimore. He opposes the menthol exemption.

But the caucus’s chairwoman, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, says its members, all Democrats, are deeply divided on the subject. “The caucus is split,” she said. “We do want to see menthol regulated, but we’re convinced that eliminating or prohibiting menthol would be a killer for the bill.”

[NYT]