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State AG cracks down on illegal cigarette sales


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You may have seen recent news reports about Tennessee’s effort to stop the illegal sale of cigarettes that are removed from the pack and sold individually as “loosies.” These single cigarette sales pose a health threat to young people because loosies are usually easier and cheaper to acquire, at a quarter each, than a full package of cigarettes which costs more than $5.

My office warned retailers who allegedly sold these single cigarettes that they risk prosecution and potential fines of $1,000 per violation. This is part of a concerted effort to crack down on illegal tobacco sales and promotions targeting young people. In addition, as domestic cigarette production declines and U.S. imports of foreign made cigarettes increase significantly, the Attorney General’s office is taking action against foreign and out-of-state cigarette manufacturers who fail to comply with Tennessee law and deprive the state of revenue.

Underage smoking and lost state revenue are significant problems, but they are only the tip of the iceberg of a global problem. The United States General Accounting Office reported to Congress that cigarette trafficking worldwide is a multibillion dollar criminal enterprise with some smugglers linked to terrorist groups. The report concluded that large profits in the illicit cigarette trade will attract increasing interest among organized crime and terrorist groups.

The current enforcement initiative by the Attorney General’s office began in 1998 when Tennessee and 51 other states and jurisdictions entered an historic agreement with the major tobacco companies. Known as the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), this agreement settled a lawsuit to recover costs incurred by the states as a result of smoking-related illnesses. Also at issue were the manufacturers’ marketing practices and violations of consumer protection, antitrust, and other state laws. Since its creation, more than 50 tobacco companies have joined the MSA.

To date, Tennessee has received over $1.6 billion in payments from the tobacco companies under this agreement. Tennessee is projected to receive up to $4.8 billion through the year 2025 and additional payments in perpetuity. The MSA places significant restrictions on tobacco advertising and marketing, and it provides funding for a foundation that addresses youth tobacco use.

Cigarette manufacturers who choose not to participate in the MSA must comply with state law requiring payment into an escrow fund from which the state can seek payment for certain judgments or settlements it obtains against those manufacturers. This year, my office filed suit and obtained a $1.2 million judgment against a Brazilian cigarette manufacturer for failing to make required payments. There are other pending cases against cigarette manufacturers in Canada and Indonesia, a Native American tribe in Oklahoma, and a South Carolina cigarette wholesaler.

The Internet poses another challenge to stopping illegal cigarette sales. My office sued two Internet cigarette vendors for selling cigarettes to Tennesseans in violation of state law. We also negotiated settlements in a number of cases resulting from illegal internet sales.

The effort to crack down on illegal cigarette sales is a team effort. The General Assembly has strengthened laws to discourage sales to minors and ensure that the state is able to collect money owed from cigarette sales. The Departments of Health, Agriculture, and Commerce and Insurance are working with my office in the effort to stop the sale of single cigarettes. The office of the Attorney General has a separate division dedicated to diligent enforcement of the MSA and related laws which works closely with the Department of Revenue.

My office is participating in a new working group on youth tobacco prevention to improve coordination among different agencies, pursue smoking prevention initiatives, and raise awareness of the health risks associated with youth tobacco use. This group will promote the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout on November 19, 2009 which is aimed at getting smokers to quit.

Hopefully, these efforts will help to discourage young people from using tobacco, help smokers quit, and take some of the profits out of the illicit cigarette trade.

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04641.pdf
http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/tobacco/articles/entry/1530/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23384-2004Jun7.html
http://www.cancer.org
 
 
 
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Member Opinions:
By: harleyrider1978 on 11/2/09
Higher taxation only creates a big blackmarket.With the government trying to rationalize its higher taxes is only a cover to its own stupidity for creating this mess to begin with....prohibition doesnt work...all across tennessee the ban isnt enforced and most places its openly defyed by freedom loving tennesseeans...
All this blackmarket and peoples attitudes are growing against the government that imposed these prohibitions and taxes and criminality upon them....big government is the enemy....and the bootlegger is now the peoples folk hero yet again......RIDE ON DUKE BOYS AND LOAD THE GENERAL LEE DOWN WITH SOME FINE TENNESSEE BURLEY TOBACCO FOR THE SMOKERS.....SECOND HAND SMOKE IS INDEED A JOKE....

The Myth of the Smoking Ban ‘Miracle’ Restrictions on smoking around the world are claimed to have had a dramatic effect on heart attack rates. It's not true. http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/7451/


As for secondhand smoke in the air, OSHA has stated outright that: "Field studies of environmental tobacco smoke indicate that under normal conditions, the components in tobacco smoke are diluted below existing Permissible Exposure Levels (PELS.) as referenced in the Air Contaminant Standard (29 CFR 1910.1000)...It would be very rare to find a workplace with so much smoking that any individual PEL would be exceeded." -Letter From Greg Watchman, Acting Sec'y, OSHA, To Leroy J Pletten, PHD, July 8, 1997
-harleyrider1978

The Chemistry of Secondary Smoke About 94% of secondary smoke is composed of water vapor and ordinary air with a slight excess of carbon dioxide. Another 3 % is carbon monoxide. The last 3 % contains the rest of the 4,000 or so chemicals supposedly to be found in smoke… but found, obviously, in very small quantities if at all.This is because most of the assumed chemicals have never actually been found in secondhand smoke. (1989 Report of the Surgeon General p. 80). Most of these chemicals can only be found in quantities measured in nanograms, picograms and femtograms. Many cannot even be detected in these amounts: their presence is simply theorized rather than measured. To bring those quantities into a real world perspective, take a saltshaker and shake out a few grains of salt. A single grain of that salt will weigh in the ballpark of 100 million picograms! (Allen Blackman. Chemistry Magazine 10/08/01). - (Excerpted from "Dissecting Antismokers' Brains" with permission of the author.)

By: harleyrider1978 on 11/2/09
SECOND HAND SMOKE IS A JOKE. Ask the anti-tobacco folks to tell you what truly is in second hand smoke...when it burns from the coal its oxygenated and everything is burned and turned into water vapor..................thats right water..........you ever burned leaves in the fall...know how the heavy smoke bellows off.......thats the organic material releasing the moisture in the leaves the greener the leaves/organic material the more smoke thats made......thats why second hand smoke is classified as a class 3 irritant by osha and epa as of 2006........after that time EPA decided to change the listing of shs as a carcinogen for political reasons.......because it contained a trace amount of 6 chemicals so small even sophisticated scientific equipment can hardly detect it ........they didnt however use the normal dose makes the poison computation when they made this political decision. However osha still maintains shs/ets as an irritant only and maintains the dose makes the poison position.......as osha is in charge of indoor air quality its decisions are based on science not political agendas as epa's is. We can see this is true after a federal judge threw out the epa's study on shs as junk science......... Wednesday, March 12, 2008 British Medical Journal & WHO conclude secondhand smoke "health hazard" claims are greatly exaggerated The BMJ published report at:

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/326/7398/1057

concludes that "The results do not support a causal relation between environmental tobacco smoke and tobacco related mortality. The association between exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and coronary heart disease and lung cancer are considerably weaker than generally believed." What makes this study so significant is that it took place over a 39 year period, and studied the results of non-smokers who lived with smokers.....



meaning these non-smokers were exposed to secondhand smoke up to 24 hours per day; 365 days per year for 39 years. And there was still no relation between environmental tobacco smoke and tobacco related mortality. In light of the damage to business, jobs, and the economy from smoking bans the BMJ report should be revisited by lawmakers as a reference tool and justification to repeal the now unnecessary and very damaging smoking ban laws. Also significant is the World Health Organization (WHO) study:


Passive smoking doesn't cause cancer-official By Victoria Macdonald, Health Correspondent " The results are consistent with their being no additional risk for a person living or working with a smoker and could be consistent with passive smoke having a protective effect against lung cancer. The summary, seen by The Telegraph, also states: 'There was no association between lung cancer risk and ETS exposure during childhood.' " And if lawmakers need additional real world data to further highlight the need to eliminate these onerous and arbitrary laws, air quality testing by Johns Hopkins University proves that secondhand smoke is up to 25,000 times SAFER than occupational (OSHA) workplace regulations.

The Chemistry of Secondary Smoke About 94% of secondary smoke is composed of water vapor and ordinary air with a slight excess of carbon dioxide. Another 3 % is carbon monoxide. The last 3 % contains the rest of the 4,000 or so chemicals supposedly to be found in smoke… but found, obviously, in very small quantities if at all.This is because most of the assumed chemicals have never actually been found in secondhand smoke. (1989 Report of the Surgeon General p. 80). Most of these chemicals can only be found in quantities measured in nanograms, picograms and femtograms. Many cannot even be detected in these amounts: their presence is simply theorized rather than measured. To bring those quantities into a real world perspective, take a saltshaker and shake out a few grains of salt. A single grain of that salt will weigh in the ballpark of 100 million picograms! (Allen Blackman. Chemistry Magazine 10/08/01). - (Excerpted from "Dissecting Antismokers' Brains" with permission of the author.)


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