Why does Congress think a cinnamon-flavored cigarette is a bad thing while a menthol-flavored one is perfectly acceptable?

The answer has everything to do with money, of course. A congressional choice to ban one flavor and approve another reveals a lot about what’s wrong with our political system.

Some time ago Congress took the major step of claiming it had a right to limit who can smoke cigarettes and how much they are taxed. After all, the thinking went, cigarettes cause disease.

The thinking holds that because the public picks up most of the cost of medical care for smokers, the public has a right of regulation. Libertarians and others may argue with that rationale. But whether you agree or not, a decision has been made and its merits can be argued another day.

The question before Congress now is why menthol and cinnamon: Both flavors cover the taste of tobacco and pull young people into the smoking habit.

The reason cinnamon will be banned while menthol won’t be is that too much money is at stake. More people smoke menthol-flavored cigarettes. In fact, menthol cigarettes account for more than a quarter of the $70 billion U.S. cigarette market.

Cinnamon attracts teenage girls. But cigarette makers are willing to sacrifice that small number of smokers in order to keep hold of the larger menthol market.

Unfortunately, an overwhelming number of menthol cigarette smokers are African-Americans — 75 percent. One-quarter of white smokers use menthol cigarettes. Health officials have repeatedly stated that menthol is the entry to cigarette smoking for untold numbers of people, especially blacks.

Menthol provides smokers with additional pleasure and makes it harder to quit.

If we are using government power to save cinnamon smokers from health hazards, why not menthol smokers? Is Congress so beholden to tobacco interests that its members are willing to pass a law with obvious racist overtones?

Tell Congress that you don’t think money is more important than people.