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by Pete Gatti
on Fri Jul 10, 2009 3:58 pm |
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Wayne Patrick wrote: I am tired of having to pay more and more for my Marlboro Reds ($8 a pack in Arizona!) I'd quit or switch to cheaper brands if I could but I like smoking too much.
Switching brands or rolling your own is a good start. The makers of Marlboro have been kissing anti's ass since the Masters Settlement Agreement and they are responsible for pushing FDA control. Of course you can do what you want, but I sure as hell wouldn't patronize a company that is sticking to me.
I got my fill of taxes with the SCHIP program when my RYO tobacco went from $15.70 a lb. bag to $40. I'm now growing my own and intend to stock pile each year. As I see it, it a matter of time before they go after growers. This is my first crop and it'll be ready to harvest in less than a month. I'm not sure what it will taste like but just knowing I'm finally sticking to anti has got to add to the flavor. |
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Pete Gatti
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Joined: Mar 26, 2009
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Location: Dade City, Florida
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by garhkal
on Fri Jul 10, 2009 4:54 pm |
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Or just go over the stateline to get them..
Utah, just north has only 69.5 cents a pack tax, compared to the 200 cents AZ has, New mexico has 91 cents, 80 cents in Nevada, 87 in CA, and 84 in Colorado. If you pick up 3 or more cartons at once, the price difference pays for the gas. |
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garhkal
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by dumpstermcnuggets
on Thu Feb 18, 2010 12:22 am |
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libertarian99 wrote: Come to think of it, some of the convenience stores I frequent already have the cigarettes stored under the counter or in overhead cabinets where people can't see them. But others have their cigarette cartons displayed over 3/4 of the wall behind the register. I wonder what stores will do if they don't have very much under-the-counter space.
What do you suppose the government will require of Smokers Outlet stores? Will they have to put up cabinets all around the store and place all their tobacco products inside the cabinets? Will they have to cover the outside of the store in a plain brown wrapper, like companies do when they are sending sex toys and pornography through the mail? Maybe they could just put a huge black box (with no advertising) over each store, with a single door monitored by the police so no one under legal smoking age can enter. 
With the laughable crap antis propose, they may as well require stores selling tobacco products to only locate in certain commercial areas with just the right commercial zoning! Kidding of course.....
In my post, I wasn't so much talking about stores that store their cigarettes and tobacco products above the register. In fact, I absolutely hate it when I can't tell beforehand what cigarette brands they do sell, since I'm not a very outgoing person. Luckily, very few stores near where I live still have such a setup(save for mostly older stores that've never renovated in probably decades), and I've usually had decent luck with chatting with convenience store workers as well. And as for stores with not much under the counter space, they'd probably do necessary(and perhaps even awkward) adjustments to comply with such a law, such as moving cabinets that don't blend in with the look around a register area towards it.
Bizarre how I forgot to respond to this post for half a year.... |
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dumpstermcnuggets
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Location: Health Fascism Capital of the Midwest, Illinois
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by White Rabbit
on Wed Mar 17, 2010 5:53 pm |
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I believe the Pact Act S.1147 passed March 12, 2010, which means that it now goes to the House and then to old Pres Obama, who will undoubtedly sign it "post haste".
I hope everyone understands that this will in effect "shut down" purchasing any tobacco products except cigars over the Internet.
I guess I am rather lucky in that a tobacco shop carrying roll your own pipe tobacco is located just 10 miles from me, and the cost of a pound of Southern Steel is still $16.00.
For those of you who do not have access to a local tobacco store for RYO products and have relied upon the Internet, good luck.
Just one more hurdle in our never ending quest to find a cheap, reliable source for RYO tobacco and supplies. |
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White Rabbit
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by bsod
on Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:40 am |
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bsod
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by JohnC
on Thu Mar 18, 2010 10:54 am |
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bsod,
Thanks for the link ---- even if it wasn't good news.
Might give enough time to get an order in before they can lock it down.
It sure put a higher priority level on "The Patch In The Back" 
-J.C. |
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JohnC
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by bsod
on Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:09 pm |
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ya we get 90 days after the president signs it, odly i dont ususally buy my tobacco this way because ryo is untaxed by my state anyways, and the internet still charges schip on this;
but its the prinicpal of the thing why i oppose this law... |
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bsod
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by heretoday
on Thu Mar 18, 2010 6:33 pm |
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http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/03/17/990680/house-vote-sends-cigarette-mailing.html
Tobacco entrepreneur J.C. Seneca said, "This attempt by Congress to return us to the days of want, squalor and dependency will not succeed."
Derek Gee / News file photo
Cigarette mail ban in Obama's hands
Senecas' lucrative tobacco trade in peril as House approves measure
By Jerry Zremski
News Washington Bureau Chief
Updated: March 18, 2010, 7:54 am /
Published: March 18, 2010, 12:26 am
WASHINGTON — Congress on Wednesday sent President Obama a bill that bans the mailing of cigarettes, a measure that would bring the full weight of the federal government down on the Seneca Nation's huge tax-free tobacco trade that New York State has been fighting for years.
The House, in a 387-25 vote, sent Obama a measure the Senate had approved six days earlier. The president is expected to sign it shortly, and it would take effect 90 days later.
"This new law will give states and localities a major revenue boost by cracking down on the illegal sale of tobacco," said Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-Queens, the bill's chief sponsor. "Every day we delay is another day that New York loses significant amounts of tax revenue and kids have easy access to tobacco products sold over the Internet."
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• Chart: Breakdown of law taking aim at Seneca cigarettes
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The Senecas said they would do whatever they could to prevent the law from devastating the nation's tobacco entrepreneurs and the 1,000 or more people who work for them.
"This attempt by Congress to return us to the days of want, squalor and dependency will not succeed," said J.C. Seneca, a successful tobacco entrepreneur and co-chairman of the tribe's Foreign Relations Committee. "We'll find ways to weather this economic storm and keep fighting for our future."
While warning of the economic dangers the bill poses to the tribe, Seneca also questioned whether it was workable — and so did the U.S. Postal Service.
"Enforcement will be difficult," said Gerry McKiernan, a spokesman for the Postal Service.
Because of privacy laws, "Priority Mail is sealed from inspection. All first-class mail is sealed from inspection. I don't really know how it's going to work," McKiernan said.
Law enforcement agencies, of course, could get involved, McKiernan noted. But Jan Kemp, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said that agency does not comment on pending legislation.
If the mailing of cigarettes is halted, the financially struggling Postal Service could lose $30 million to $40 million a year in revenue, McKiernan added.
But that's nothing compared with the potential loss to the Senecas.
"This is a direct assault on our economy and our people," said Barry E. Snyder Sr., the tribe's president. "And it will have a devastating ripple effect on the Western New York economy."
That being the case, the tribe will continue its fight by pressing Obama to veto the bill — a move that supporters of the bill said is highly unlikely.
"We are putting concerted pressure on the White House, trying to get meetings with them," Seneca said. "They have been unresponsive so far."
If Obama signs the bill into law as expected, the Senecas also could approach private shippers to see if they will resume shipping cigarettes. Federal Express, UPS and DHL, under pressure from New York State, all stopped shipping cigarettes years ago.
The Senecas have even discussed setting up their own shipping system, Seneca said.
"Whether that would be a viable option, we don't know," Seneca said.
One thing is for sure, however: The bill poses one of the greatest challenges yet to a business that has made several Senecas rich while costing New York State upwards of $500 million a year in lost tax revenue.
"We're finally going to be able to get control of this problem," Weiner said.
Then again, the Senecas have reacted strongly to state attempts to collect taxes on cigarettes sold on the tribe's reservations.
Most notably, in 1997, the Senecas burned enough tires to close part of the New York State Thruway to protest the state's tax-collection attempts. Senecas and their supporters ended up in a brawl on a section of the Thruway that ended with 12 state troopers injured and dozens of Senecas arrested.
Asked how Senecas could react to enactment of the new federal mailing ban, Seneca said: "Anything is possible. We want to avoid any situation that would put anyone in harm's way. It's unpredictable at this point."
The bill — the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act — also would require any online seller of cigarettes to collect all state taxes on the products and verify, both at the time of purchase and the time of delivery, the customer's age and ID.
Huge tobacco companies such as Altria and Lorillard, which have been losing business to the Seneca merchants, backed the bill, as did every major anti-smoking organization.
"The PACT Act offers Congress a unique opportunity to fight crime, protect federal and state tax revenues and promote public health, all at the same time," said Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Seneca, Snyder and other tribal leaders spent Wednesday in Washington, hoping to engineer a last-minute miracle to stop a bill that passed the usually fractious Senate unanimously.
They found no support from Western New York's lawmakers and only 25 votes overall, primarily from the most conservative members of Congress.
Cancer advocates in New York State estimate that 100,000 New Yorkers will stop smoking if taxes can be collected on cigarettes, and countless more will never start, said Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo.
"The arguments are pretty compelling," Higgins said. "If you eliminate smoking, you eliminate a lot of cancer."
Rep. Chris Lee, R-Clarence, noted the bill had "overwhelming support," and for good reason.
"The Senecas just left my office; we had a very cordial conversation," Lee said. "I'm sympathetic — but I'm also getting calls from parents in my district who are worried about the problem of selling cigarettes to teenagers online. That takes precedence."
That statement above is complete bullshit!! I urge you to write Chris Lee and ask for details and proof of numbers of teens ordering online.Do the parents of these kids allow their kids to have checking accounts? I smell TOBACCO FREE KIDS ORGANIZATION is behind the Reps statement!!
If kids want to smoke,they will pick up butts from anywhere,I did, and they will too.
Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, D-Fairport, was meeting with businesspeople from her district
and thus missed the vote, her office said.
Snyder said he didn't understand how local lawmakers could favor the bill. "It is difficult to comprehend how our elected officials can vote for something that will kill more than 1,000 jobs," he said. "It's extremely disappointing." |
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heretoday
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