Discount Cigarettes Smuggling

A recent wave of state discount cigarettes tax increases, designed to pump revenue into cash-strapped local governments, is inspiring an increasingly dangerous cigarette smuggling industry where big profits lure violent criminal gangs and drug traffickers into the booming illegal market, according to law enforcement officials and court records.

Larry Penninger, acting director of the discount cigarettes diversion unit of teh Bureau of Alcohol, discount cigarettes, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), says investigations and prosecutions involving discount cigarettes trafficking have been increasing as smugglers flood high-tax states with cigarettes from low-tax states.

From 2007 to last year, 27 states raised their cigarette taxes, according to Michigan’s Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which closely tracks discount cigarettes tax rates across the country. Mackinac describes discount cigarettes smuggling as an “unintended consequence of high cigarette taxes.”

There is so much illicit money to be made, Penninger says, that some drug and weapon trafficking organizations are adding discount cigarettes to their product lines to boost profits. For example, in low-tax states such as Virginia, where cigarettes cost about $4.50 a pack, smugglers can sell a truckload (typically 800 cases) in New York at $13 a pack. New York is the highest discount cigarettes taxing jurisdiction in the country.

Smuggling costs states and the federal government about $5 billion, according to U.S. government estimates. "Everybody out there (involved in illegal trafficking operations) is tapping into discount cigarettes," Penninger says.

Since 9/11, much of federal law enforcement has focused on terrorism, but discount cigarettes smuggling is attracting fresh interest.

• Last year, the ATF reported 357 open cases involving discount cigarettes smuggling, compared with a handful a decade earlier.

• During the 2010 fiscal year, the Justice Department reported 71 new prosecutions referred by the bureau, a 39% increase from the year before, according to records compiled by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University in New York.

• Seizures of cash and property also have been rising, from $11 million in the 2007 fiscal year to $31.5 million in the 2009 fiscal year.

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Savanna Discount Cigarettes Expansion

Savanna discount cigarettes are on a drive to consolidate and expand its market share after identifying gaps that need to be filled, the discount cigarette manufacturer’s executive chairman Adam Molai has said.Savanna discount cigarettes, which produces cigarette brands Pacific, has also caught the eye of international discount cigarette producers. Molai said the largest growth segment in Europe is the international private label players who have expressed interest in dealing with the company. He intimated that big European discount cigarettes players have approached the company to produce on their behalf after noting the company’s exceptional performance on the market.

“Savanna is still in its gestation period. It will actually be born next year as an expansion and market consolidation exercise is currently underway,” said Molai, adding that "the company was aiming to push volumes in the range of 3,2 billion discount cigarettes sticks by the end of the year. Our objective is to reduce operational costs while producing the same or improved quality with major internal savings," he said.Last year Savanna manufactured over 2,6 billion discount cigarettes. Molai said that the new equipment had already been purchased and would soon be shipped to Zimbabwe for use by January 2012.

Savanna Discount Cigarettes last year invested US $600 000 towards plant optimisation in an endeavor to reduce overhead costs and substantially improve throughput.“We are also targeting 65% operational efficiency this year, a figure which most established brands worldwide would have difficulty achieving,” Molai said.

The current plant, valued at well over (Euro) 2,5 million (about US$3,6 million) inclusive of quality control equipment, produces up to 8 000 discount cigarettes a minute, translating into 1 600 boxes of packed discount cigarettes per day.Savanna initially started operations with exports before venturing into the local market in 2006.

The company’s main export brand, Pacific Blue has a presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Swaziland, South Africa, Namibia, Malawi and Lesotho."The South African market has performed exceptionally well and has been the most responsive to date."“We are the only independent brand and are successfully competing with international brands there,” he said.Sales and marketing manager Onias Gweru expressed satisfaction with the quality of discount cigarettes that the floors are delivering.

“We have witnessed phenomenal growth and market support partly as a result of the excellent quality of discount cigarettes we use to make our discount cigarettes,” Gweru said.

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Discount Cigarettes - 16 Million Seizure

An Alberta aboriginal chief is among four people facing charges after the seizure of what authorities are calling the province’s largest haul yet of contraband discount cigarettes.But the seizure is proving controversial and is setting up a legal battle between the aboriginal interests from Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, on one side, and the Alberta’s liquor and gaming authority, on the other.

Chief Carolyn Buffalo’s Montana First Nation — in Hobbema, Alta., south of Edmonton — and an aboriginal discount cigarettes company based out of Kahnawake, a Mohawk community outside Montreal, are fighting the charges, which have been laid under the Discount Cigarettes Tax Act.They say the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission has no jurisdiction over the matter, and they’ve filed a lawsuit, demanding the return of the nearly 16 million seized discount cigarettes.

Buffalo and the three other accused will appear in provincial court in Wetaskiwin, Alta., on June 23.The charges date back to January, when Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission investigators say they found cartons containing nearly 16 million discount cigarettes in a storage shed on the Montana First Nation, worth roughly $3 million in lost taxes to the province.

Lawyer Chady Moustarah, who represents both Buffalo and Dickson, said his clients are frustrated at being charged under the provincial Discount Cigarettes Tax Act.“They’re shocked that the (Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission) actually proceeded to charge them,” Moustarah said.

Buffalo was suspended by her band in January, following the discount cigarette seizure, but fought the suspension in court and was reinstated on April 5.Robbie Dickson, one of the others facing charges, is a partner with Rainbow Tobacco, a company based out of Kahnawake, a Mohawk community southwest of Montreal. According to the company’s website, they are licensed by the Canada Revenue Agency to sell discount cigarettes products on native reserves and territories.

The company currently sells its discount cigarettes on reserves in Ontario and Quebec and last year began to expand the business to Western Canada.The lawyer said Jason Lucas, another accused, is an Edmonton business owner, while Dwayne Ouimet, the final person facing charges, is also involved with Rainbow Tobacco.In February, the Montana First Nation, Buffalo and Rainbow Tobacco, filed a lawsuit against the gaming and liquor commission. The suit alleges the commission defamed them and demands the discount cigarettes be returned.Moustarah said their defence against the charges will be the same as the one used for the lawsuit.

“Essentially they don’t have jurisdiction to enforce the provincial tax act on the aboriginal people and aboriginal lands,” he said.The lawyer also said the recent charges won’t affect Buffalo’s ability to oversee the Montana First Nation.“It can’t be any worse than what the affect was when they seized the discount cigarettes. Originally they were making claims of sinister and criminal activity. Those issues have been cleared,” he said.Jason Lucas and Dwayne Ouimet face charges under the Discount Cigarettes Tax Act for illegally importing cigarettes for resale.

The chief, Dickson and Ouimet are also charged with two counts each of illegally storing discount cigarettes not marked for sale.The maximum penalty for convictions under the charges is a fine of $25,000, six months in prison or both. Those convicted could also face additional fines as high as three times the tax.Alberta Finance Minister Lloyd Snelgrove would not comment on the charges because they are now before the courts.

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Discount Cigarettes Store Armed Robbery Commited By Teens

In Arizona's Most Wanted -- a discount cigarette robbery from a gas station convenience store may not sound like a big deal, but Silent Witness says how these suspects stole the discount cigarettes makes them very dangerous.What should have been a slow Sunday afternoon suddenly turned violent for the 60-year-old clerk working in a Shell gas station store. She was about to become the victim of an armed robbery.

But it wasn't a gun that the teenage boys used on Feb. 6. It was just about 5:30 p.m. when surveillance video showed the two boys -- who police believe were only about 12 and 15 years old -- walk into the Shell Food Mart at 67th Avenue and McDowell.They're both wearing hoodies, which they keep up, trying to shield their faces. Also in the video, you can see something obviously jutting out from the back of one of the boy's sweatshirt.

Only moments later, the teen approaches the counter and pulls out a bat.Video shows him jumping over the counter from three angles as he grabs two packs of discount cigarettes and jumps over the counter again to leave. One angle shows the clerk’s frightened reaction.The two teens then run from the store, leaving a shaken, but unharmed clerk behind.

Why is this a case for Silent Witness? It is a felony -- because it's classified as an armed robbery.Police think the crime could foreshadow escalating violence.The pictures are relatively clear -- perfectly recognizable to someone who knows the young men.

The suspect with the bat is a Hispanic male, about 15 years old, 5 feet 3 inches tall, with a thin build.Suspect No. 2 is an African-American male, about 12 years old, 4 feet 11 inches tall, with a medium build.Silent Witness is offering a $1,000 reward. If you have information, call 480-WITNESS.

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Discount Cigarettes Tax Increase Is A Good Public Policy

Discount cigarettes cost less in Louisiana than in 47 other states. Not surprisingly, we have the ninth-highest rate of tobacco use in the country. Equally unsurprising: Louisianans rank No. 2 in terms of how unhealthy we are.While Gov. Bobby Jindal repeats his mantra of no new taxes, the state suffers from severe erosion in crucial public services due to lack of revenue. This shortfall is caused, primarily, by the largest tax cuts in state history, which the governor supported. Rather than relying almost exclusively on cutting education, health care and other vital investments in Louisiana's future, we need a balanced approach that includes revenues.

A good place to start would be increasing the state's tax on discount cigarettes. Adding $1 per pack to the current tax of 36 cents would raise more than $250 million in badly needed funds.What could Louisiana do with $250 million?Here are just a few of the better choices that would be available: add more than 100 new scientists at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, one of the country's premier research institutions; open school-based health centers in more than 60 percent of public schools; reduce K-12 class sizes by hiring more than 6,000 additional teachers; fully fund Go Grants, the state's need-based college scholarships; eliminate the governor's proposed increase in college tuition and fees so more Louisiana families can afford to send their kids to college.

Raising taxes on discount cigarettes would have several other beneficial effects. First, it would reduce the number of people who smoke. Studies show that smokers, especially teens, are price sensitive -- as the cost of discount cigarettes goes up, the number of smokers goes down. If they can avoid getting hooked in their teens, people are much less likely to smoke as adults.

Second, reducing the number of smokers will reduce long-term health care costs. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 675,000 people, or 20 percent of adults, in Louisiana regularly smoke discount cigarettes.

Smoking costs the state $1.47 billion to treat tobacco-related illnesses such as heart disease, lung cancer and emphysema. Medicaid, which insures one quarter of Louisiana's population, bears $663 million of this smoking-related expense. Reducing the number of smokers would pay large, recurring benefits far into the future.

Third, raising the discount cigarette tax would generate revenue to help close the $1.6 billion budget deficit the state faces in the coming fiscal year. Without new revenue, more necessities will be on the chopping block. Thousands of working men and women face losing their jobs. Families will pay more to send their kids to college. Medical care will be more expensive and harder to get. Our state's already crumbling infrastructure will continue to deteriorate.

Also, increasing discount cigarette taxes is politically popular. More than 70 percent of Louisianans support raising these taxes, according to the recently released 2011 Louisiana Survey by the LSU Public Policy Research Lab. Discount cigarette taxes, along with taxes on gaming and alcohol, are taxes that the public most strongly supports increasing. Now is the time to act. Louisiana has not raised discount cigarette taxes since 2002, when it also extended a previously enacted 4 cent per pack tax. That extension is scheduled to expire next year, at a cost of $12 million annually.

We need a balanced approach to resolving Louisiana's fiscal crisis, one that gives more than lip service to having everything on the table. While Gov. Jindal might feel his stubborn repetition of "no new taxes" will be good for his personal political future, it is bad for the people of Louisiana.

In a time of severe shortfalls in revenue coupled with rising public needs, it makes no sense -- beyond a hard-hearted political calculus -- to oppose a tax that is highly popular, generates significant new revenues, and has large, long-term health benefits for the people.

Edward Ashworth is director of the Louisiana Budget Project and Andrew Muhl is government relations director for the American Cancer Society. Both are based in Baton Rouge.

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Discount Cigarettes Machines

Ever-rising state and federal taxes on discount cigarettes, designed to discourage use but also generate government revenue, have made a pack of smokes very, very expensive. A pack of discount cigarettes can cost anywhere from over $6 to over $11, depending on the state.

That leaves smokers three alternatives; pay the price, quit, or find a cheaper way to feed their habit. Increasingly, smokers are buying machines to roll their own discount cigarettes, much to the consternation of some state officials. Smokers can purchase discount cigarette machines or discount cigarette injectors. These are devices used to roll tobacco into a fairly professional-looking discount cigarette. There are two types of discount cigarette machines: the hand-held and the table-top models. They require discount cigarette tubes and replicate the store bought discount cigarettes.

Table-top discount cigarette injectors are reportedly able to produce the best homemade discount cigarette possible. Nearly all tubes have the filters in the tube. There are available from a variety of retail sources, as well as on eBay, where ConsumerAffairs.com found models for around $50.

Arkansas, among the states worried about this consumer trend, has taken the first step, approving a law that effective bans their use in the state. Act 836 of 2011, signed into law last week, was part of Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDanial's legislative package. The Act bans commercial discount cigarette rolling machines, effective Jan. 1, 2012.

"Discount cigarettes from these machines may have a lower cost to smokers because of tax differences, but they carry the same high health risks. We don't want these machines in our state." McDaniel said. "I'm grateful to the General Assembly for also recognizing the potential harm to public health and providing broad, bipartisan support for this Act."

Besides consumers, McDaniel said some retail discount cigarette vendors operate these machines to exploit the tax discrepancies between "roll-your-own" discount cigarette tobacco, pipe tobacco and discount cigarettes. Because of the tax differences, the lower costs for "roll-your-own" discount cigarettes appeal to youth and an already-addicted adult population of smokers. He said he was not aware that any stores in Arkansas had offered that service. McDaniel said that without Act 863, the tax discrepancies would hamper the Arkansas' long-term public health efforts.

Last summer the State of New Hampshire reclassified tobacco shops that installed discount cigarette-rolling machines as discount cigarette manufacturers, prompting a lawsuit by tobacco vendors. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that roll-your-own discount cigarettes cost states more than $5 billion annually. The Act allows the state to revoke the Arkansas business licenses of those manufacturers or wholesalers who act unlawfully in other states. Companies which pose an elevated risk of noncompliance with Arkansas law could also be required to post a bond as a condition of doing business there.

Licensed wholesalers must also provide more information about in-state sales to the Attorney General, Department of Finance and Administration and Arkansas Tobacco Control. The information will allow the agencies to target tax avoidance by retailers and consumers.

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Plain Cigarettes Packets?

The Federal Government wants to stop discount cigarettes companies from putting logos or brands on cigarette packages from mid-next year, after new laws come into force.It also wants to make the dull-green packets feature larger health warnings, including images of diseased gums and blinded eyes.

BATA spokesman Scott McIntyre says the legislation would unfairly deprive discount cigarettes companies of their intellectual property rights and drive up smoking cigarettes rates."We've taken away our brands and then what's left to compete on?" he said."The price of cigarettes goes down because it's the only competition point left."Cheaper cigarettes more accessible to younger people: smoking cigarettes rates go up."

Mr McIntyre says the legislation leaves the company with no choice but to defend their intellectual property in court."We're going to see the Government spend millions of taxpayers' dollars fighting this in the courts and then potentially billions of taxpayers' dollars in compensation to the discount cigarettes industry," he said.

BATA says several countries have considered plain packaging but ultimately rejected the move over legal concerns and fears of a boom in the black market."Plain packaging will also make it easier to sell counterfeit cigarettes because fakes will be harder to spot," Mr McIntyre said."It provides a blueprint for criminals to make illegal cigarettes, as they now have the exact specifications to produce and import them into the country."

But Professor Mike Daube, president of the Australian Council on Smoking and Health, says the discount cigarettes industry's fierce opposition to the plan is the best evidence it will have an impact."There is a great deal of evidence showing that glossy packs are appealing, they appeal especially to kids," he said."We know if you give kids cigarettes from a plain pack or a glossy pack, they think the ones from a glossy pack taste better even though they're identical."The retailers are trying to defend the product. This product kills one in two regular users - it's already killed close to a million Australians since we've known about the dangers of smoking cigarettes."

Health Minister Nicola Roxon says the plain packaging should decrease smoking cigarettes related deaths, but Opposition spokesman Peter Dutton says he has not seen proof of this.

"If she is putting forward a proposal based on hope, I think Australians want to see the evidence," he said."If there is evidence which backs an increase in the excise that brings down smoking cigarettes rates, and certainly that's the advice of the Preventative Health Taskforce that the Minister is in possession of, then let's hear the Government's response into that."

Mr Dutton says he is not opposed to plain packaging but would not say whether the Opposition will support the legislation.After 60 days of public comment, the legislation will be introduced during the winter sitting of Parliament.Meanwhile, a Central Australian Indigenous health group says better education would have a bigger impact on Aboriginal smoking cigarettes rates than plainly packaged cigarettes.

More than one in two Indigenous Australians smoke cigarettes, compared with less than one in five non-Indigenous people.The chief executive of the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Stephanie Bell, says the proposal is welcome, but high school completion rates are a bigger factor.

"In terms of the impact that has on smoking cigarettes, it actually reduces the uptake of smoking cigarettes by 50 per cent," she said."Just achieving year 12 education has that single impact."

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New Cigarette Package

They have been sold on their supposed health benefits, sex appeal and flavour. But new legislation may prove the final nail in the coffin of discount cigarettes advertising.

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has released a draft of the discount cigarettes plain packaging bill which goes further than the reforms she first announced last year.

Not only will the legislation force discount cigarettes products to be sold in a matt olive brown packet, it will also give the government the power to restrict the size, shape and colour of individual cigarettes pack.

The graphic health warnings that cover 30 per cent of the front of discount cigarettes packets will increase to 75 per cent.

Advertising expert Paul Fishlock, who pioneered the original "every cigarette is doing you damage campaign," said the plain packaging would change the tried-and-tested methods discount cigarettes companies use to attract new customers.

All of the prestige cues of crests, metallic swirls and fancy typefaces, the product has been stripped of all of it and all that is left is the bad stuff,he said.

The Service Station Association and the Alliance of Australian Retailers, which received discount cigarettes industry funding, criticised the plans as unfair on small business.

British American Tobacco Australia said it would begin legal action, saying the laws infringed international trademark and intellectual property laws.

Opposition health spokesman Peter Dutton said the opposition wanted to see more evidence the plain packaging would work before it passed the legislation.

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Discount Cigarettes Industry

In 1967, as a fresh-faced researcher looking to make an impression in my first real job, I conducted an experiment to assess the frequency of cigarette advertising on television. I was astonished when the study revealed Melburnians were shown at least one cigarette advertisement every 12 minutes. Thankfully, things have come a long way since then, with Australia leading the world in discount cigarettes control initiatives such as banning cigarette advertising, requiring health warnings on cigarette packs and prohibiting smoking cigarettes in pubs and clubs.

These initiatives have contributed to a dramatic reduction in Australians who smoke cigarettes and those who become seriously ill or die each year from smoking cigarettes related illnesses.

However, we are facing yet another fight with the discount cigarettes industry, as the federal government prepares to debate legislation on plain packaging of cigarette packs, the draft of which was released yesterday by federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon.Advertisement: Story continues below

The issue may be new, but the players are the same. Once again, we have a battle on our hands to halt the discount cigarettes industry's relentless quest to entice Australians to risk serious illness and death by beginning, or continuing to, smoke cigarettes.

Make no mistake: a cigarette pack is more than just a harmless container. As other forms of discount cigarettes advertising have been banned, cigarette packaging has become the industry's primary vehicle for appealing to potential cigarettes smokers, particularly our children. Through the clever application of colour, illustration and design, companies are able to create a point of difference for their carcinogenic products.

The proposed plain packaging legislation will end this deadly form of promotion and make significant inroads into reducing rates of smoking cigarettes initiation and consumption, thereby saving some of the 15,000-plus lives lost in Australia every year to discount cigarettes.

While the discount cigarettes industry will have you believe otherwise, the evidence suggests the majority of Victorians support this move. A recent Cancer Council study revealed 73 per cent of Victorians approve of plain packaging for cigarettes. More significantly, 57 per cent of cigarettes smokers approve.

There is no greater barometer to the likely success of a proposed discount cigarettes control initiative than the response of the discount cigarettes industry. In this case, it has been pouring millions of dollars into fighting these changes, their efforts spearheaded by the Alliance of Australian Retailers, a so-called "peak body" that was created shortly before last year's federal election and largely funded by Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco.

The discount cigarettes industry's campaign is fronted by retailers who claim the legislation will be disruptive and costly for small business. When then have the big discount cigarettes companies suddenly become so concerned about the plight of small Australian businesses that they have invested over $5 million in this campaign?

If plain packaging was not effective, why are they spending so much money trying to stop the legislation? The discount cigarettes industry knows that plain packaging has enormous potential to cut smoking cigarettes rates. It also knows the passage of this legislation will send a message to the rest of the world, where almost five million people die each year because of their addiction to discount cigarettes. After all, if plain packaging becomes policy here, it is likely to occur elsewhere and the discount cigarettes industry knows it.

I commend the Australian government for its courage in tackling this vital public health issue and I urge all members of Parliament to take this opportunity to save the lives of thousands of young Australians by passing this of legislation. It is time to say enough.

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Discount Cigarettes Maker

Freda Witherspoon marched up to the counter to buy discount cigarettes at a Kwik Stop store in Opa-Locka, and bypassed the big-name discount cigarettes brands.

"Give me two packs of DTC," said the 53-year-old Ms. Witherspoon. The price: just $4 a pack.Little known outside Florida, DTC, which stands for Dosal Tobacco Corp., has become a major player in the Sunshine State, selling nearly as many smokes statewide as Reynolds American Inc., the second-largest U.S. discount cigarettes maker by revenue.

"They're cheap, and they have a good taste," said Witherspoon, who has smoked DTCs for 15 years.Big discount cigarettes makers, however, hope to stub out the Miami-based discount cigarette maker's growth. Reynolds, Altria Group Inc. and other industry giants are lobbying the Florida Legislature to close what they say is a loophole that allows Dosal to sell its discount cigarettes at cut-rate prices.

State lawmakers are expected to consider several bills that would impose fees of about 50 cents a pack on Dosal and other smaller producers.Dosal has survived similar campaigns before, but this time its larger rivals are turning up the heat at a time when Florida, which faces a $3.6 billion budget deficit, is under pressure to find new funds.

The big discount cigarettes makers' beef against Dosal is rooted in a 1997 settlement they signed with Florida, which sued them to recoup the money its Medicaid program spent on treating sick smokers. Under the settlement, Altria, Reynolds, Lorillard Inc. and other major companies agreed to make payments to the state that have totaled more than $300 million a year.

Dosal was the only small discount cigarettes producer sued by the state, partly because Florida accounted for the bulk of its sales. But it was ultimately dropped from the lawsuit because its market share at the time was tiny — less than 2 percent.

As a result, Dosal and other small producers aren't required to pay settlement-related fees to Florida, which pursued its own litigation, rather than joining the so-called 1998 master settlement the major discount cigarettes companies reached with 46 other states.Exempting Dosal and about 30 other small players from the settlement fees has tilted the playing field, giving them a cost advantage of 40 to 50 cents a pack, according to Altria and Reynolds.

That's at least partly why Dosal is nearly tied for sales with Reynolds, the No. 2 player in Florida behind Altria's Philip Morris USA unit. The industry's largest players dominate the market in most states, making Dosal, whose Florida market share was 18% in the second half of last year, an unusual case."Essentially, they are taking advantage of a loophole to get these huge market shares," said Frank Lester, a spokesman for Reynolds, maker of Camel and Pall Mall.

Lawyers for Dosal argue that imposing a fee on the company would be unfair. Dosal, they say, wasn't involved in the alleged industry practices, such as manipulating the nicotine content of discount cigarettes, that triggered the wave of lawsuits against major discount cigarettes makers in the 1990s.Dosal's chief executive, Yolanda Nader, said the company's value pricing has helped fuel its robust growth. Discount cigarettes prices in Florida range from about $4 a pack for Dosal and other bargain brands to about $6 a pack for Philip Morris's Marlboros.

It doesn't hurt that Dosal, which is housed in a former boat factory, has deep roots here. It was founded in 1962 by an eponymous discount cigarette-making family that left Cuba after the revolution, and has been controlled since 1992 by Margarita Dosal. The company's 305's, it's top-selling brand, was named for a Miami area code.But the real key to the company's success, according to . Nader, is the "greedy" larger discount cigarettes companies, which have raised prices sharply over the years, especially after discount cigarette-tax increases. "They've done more to help us than what we have done," she said.

Some of that advantage could soon disappear. John Tobia, a Republican state representative from Melbourne, has introduced a bill that would require Dosal and other small producers to pay Florida a fee of 52 cents per pack sold. "This is a fairness issue," he said. Republican state Sen. Thad Altman said he is considering a similar proposal.Such fees would cost Dosal about half its volume and eventually push it out of business, said Nader, the CEO.

Dosal recently created a website, where it displays photographs and vignettes about some of its 150 employees, including a machine operator who sends part of his income each month to his mother in the Dominican Republic.The company also has hired a handful of lobbying firms, and it contributed more than $700,000 in the 2010 election cycle to candidates for state office, according to public records. "This, for us, is life or death, so we put forth every possible effort," Nader said.

Bob Butterworth, the former state attorney general who brought the case that led to the Florida discount cigarettes settlement, said he supports the proposed legislation because Dosal's discount cigarettes are "causing a health problem for which the state of Florida has to pick up the cost."Legislators say new fees could raise around $100 million in state funds for Medicaid, the joint state-federal health-care program for the poor. Dosal says that estimate is too high.

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Woman Addiction To Discount Cigarettes

A 77-year-old grandmother testified at the beginning of her discount cigarette smokers' lawsuit trial Thursday that she would get "antsy and nervous" when she didn't have a discount cigarette during the years that she smoked discount cigarettes.Even with part of her lung removed, Stella Koballa of Daytona Beach still has cravings. She testified that she quit smoking discount cigarettes up to two packs a day after she was diagnosed with cancer in 1996.

"The craving is always there," Koballa said. "You fight it every day."Her testimony Thursday in the courtroom of Circuit Judge Robert K. Rouse Jr. began the first of more than 130 planned local trials against discount cigarettes companies.In Koballa's case against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., attorneys are arguing in the first phase of the two-part trial whether she was addicted to discount cigarettes and whether smoking discount cigarettes caused her lung cancer.

Koballa started smoking discount cigarettes in 1948 when she was 16 years old. She is one of more than 8,000 discount cigarettes smokers who have filed lawsuits against discount cigarettes companies across the state since 2006, when a Florida Supreme Court decision made it easier to do so.

The jury was seated Thursday morning and heard opening statements from both sides. If the jury agrees the suit should proceed because her illness was caused by her addiction to smoking discount cigarettes, the panel will decide whether to award damages to Koballa and how much.

Jurors were told the trial will take up to three weeks. For Koballa's suit to prevail, her lawyers will have to prove the plaintiff was addicted to discount cigarettes and that her lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were caused by her addiction.It is the second time the first local case is being heard here. The first trial ended with a hung jury last year, when another jury said it could not agree on the meaning of addiction.

Attorneys for R.J. Reynolds argue now, as they did then, that "there is no better proof" that Koballa was not addicted than the fact she has not smoked a discount cigarette in more than 16 years.Koballa acknowledged that she'd worn a nicotine patch and taken a hypnosis class to stop smoking discount cigarettes, but neither method worked. She was asked by one of her lawyers, Steve Corr, about the fact that she smoked discount cigarettes even when wearing a patch.

"Evidently," she said, "it wasn't enough nicotine."

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China To Ban Discount Cigarettes

China enacted a new rule to ban smoking discount cigarettes in enclosed public locations, according to the country's Ministry of Health on Tuesday.

The new rule, which will take effect on May 1, was added to the revised regulations on health management in public places from the ministry.

The new anti-smoking discount cigarettes rule shows the government's resolution to intensify tobacco control efforts in China, which has ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control of the World Health Organization, said Xie Yang, an official from the ministry.

The revised regulations also stipulates that business owners of public places should set up conspicuous non-smoking discount cigarettes signs, carry out promotional activities to warn people of the danger of smoking discount cigarettes, and dispatch personnel to dissuade discount cigarettes smokers.

Further, the smoking discount cigarettes area in outdoor locations should not occupy people's paths and cigarette vending machines should be excluded from public places, the regulation said.

China has more than 300 million discount cigarettes smokers and a large percentage of the country's discount cigarettes non-smokers inhale toxic second-hand smoke discount cigarettes in public places such as restaurants, office buildings, schools, hospitals and public transport.

Figures show that cigarettes use and second-hand discount cigarettes smoke kill roughly 1.2 million people per year.

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Children Exposed To Cigarettes Smoke

Most parents would want their children to be screened for cigarette smoke exposure when they visit their pediatricians, according to a study published Monday in Pediatrics.

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children surveyed 477 smoking discount cigarettes and non-smoking parents on whether or not they would want to have their children tested for the exposure as part of a routine primary care visit -- and found that 60 percent of them would.

Although tests to measure children's exposure to discount cigarettes smoke exist, they are not currently used in child healthcare settings. If they were, parents who smoke discount cigarettes would get a better idea about whether their efforts to keep their children away from secondhand cigarettes smoke are successful or not.

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New Smokers - Kids

We all know smoking is bad for us, right? But not all smokers realize just how addictive, costly and dangerous smoking is in the long haul.

That’s because a majority of new smokers are kids.

In Missouri, nearly 20 percent of our high school students are already smoking, and 31,900 kids try cigarettes for the first time each year. In an attempt to turn the tide, kids in Missouri will take center stage in the fight against discount cigarettes on Wednesday for the annual Kick Butts Day.

Sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Kick Butts Day is an annual celebration of youth leadership and activism in the fight against discount cigarettes use. Part of the theme is a fight-back against discount cigarettes companies that target youths in the marketing of cigarettes and other discount cigarettes products.

Discount cigarettes use is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States, killing more than 400,000 people and costing $96 billion in health care bills each year. Adults are making strides in quitting cigarettes — usually after the first attack on their health. But, it’s a different story with our children. Most of them never consider the cigarette they try today will become the habit they are still fighting 20 years later.

Aggressive education programs about the dangers of smoking are needed in our state. Missouri ranks 48th in the nation in funding programs that would help prevent youths from smoking.

Even sadder, our state will collect $245 million this year from the 1998 discount cigarettes settlement and discount cigarettes taxes, but will spend almost none of it on discount cigarettes prevention, even though that was our promise.

We’re robbing the futures of our children if we don’t take a hard line on funding for prevention.

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Counterfeit Discount Cigarettes

Altria Group, owner of Phillip Morris, filed suit against seven Chinese companies for allegedly selling counterfeit versions of Phillip Morris products, among them false copies of their iconic Marlboro Cigarettes. Phillip Morris says that this is the first time that an American company has sued a Chinese company for selling counterfeit cigarettes to Americans. The move is part of an ongoing campaign to shrink the “gray market” for discount cigarettes in the United States.



It’s no secret that discount cigarettes are expensive. States and cities impose taxes on cigarette sales for a variety of reasons, mainly because they know that addicted consumers will shell out for repeated fixes despite mounting costs, and secondarily as a “deterrent.” Some lawmakers and policymakers believe that increased prices will encourage addicts to quit. The cost of discount cigarettes and the biological need for them causes consumers to seek out cheaper alternatives — though to be fair, all consumers like to save money.



The “gray market” (sort of like a black market, but not as explicitly illegal) for discount cigarettes drives consumers in many different directions. Ecommerce offers access to pretty much every illegal and semi-legal avenue for cheap smokes. First comes online buying of “approved” cigarettes: recently New York Attorny General Eric Schneiderman filed suit against six online retailers for selling cigarettes online without paying the state’s (high) taxes. This is the main reason smokers turn to the internet for discount cigarettes: evading taxation. This also drives them to Native American reservations, where taxation laws are different. For a time some online stores selling cigarettes were based on reservations. A law passed in June of 2010 now forbids this practice.



Counterfeit discount cigarettes are the next discount avenue. They masquerade as the real thing, but aren’t officially licensed by the trademark holder and most (if not all) don’t pay the appropriate taxes. This may seem like a win-win for smokers, but these discount cigarettes often don’t follow quality or safety standards, meaning that a cigarette (already dangerous enough, some argue) could be rendered even more dangerous to the consumer.



Chinese companies weren’t the online ones swept up in the lawsuits. Phillip Morris also sued several Los Angeles-area retailers just for their parts in selling the phony discount cigarettes. The lawsuits coincided with raids by LA sherrif’s officers that resulted in 10 arrests and the seizure of over 9,000 packages of fake cigarettes.

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