Possible Ban on Menthol Cigarettes

Businesses are not pleased about the push by Senator Richard Blumenthal LAW ‘73 to ban menthol Kiss cigarettes.

In an Apr. 18 letter, Blumenthal expressed his support for the United States Food and Drug Administration’s call to ban cigarettes with more than 0.3 percent menthol by weight. But six New Haven store proprietors interviewed said they were worried about how this move would negatively affect thier business profits.

Smoking Racket

Larry Penninger, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' tobacco diversion unit, said investigations and prosecutions involving tobacco 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 Lucky Strike cigarette taxes, according to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a Midland-based think tank that closely tracks tobacco taxes across the country. Mackinac describes tobacco smuggling as an "unintended consequence of high cigarette taxes."

There is so much illicit money to be made, Penninger said, that some drug and weapon traffickers are adding tobacco to their product lines to boost profits.

Tobacco Firm Contract Under Fire

The Newfoundland and Labrador government admitted Monday that Danny Williams was premier when his former law firm was hired to work on a lawsuit aimed at recovering millions of dollars from tobacco manufacturers. Justice Minister Felix Collins said a U.S. law firm picked a St. John's firm that had been founded by former premier Danny Williams.

Roebothan McKay Marshall — a firm Williams helped found, but which he left after he entered politics a decade ago — is at the centre of a political controversy, with the Liberals accusing the governing Progressive Conservatives of awarding a rich contract without tender.

British American Tobacco Dropped

British American Tobacco Plc has won its fight to be dropped from a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit in which cigarette companies were found to have conspired to lie about the dangers of tobacco.

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler, citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling issued since her 2006 judgment against British American Tobacco and other companies, said she would grant the request by the company to be severed from the case.

Philip Morris Int. Says Japan Profits Intact

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan are not expected to affect Philip Morris International Inc.'s sales and profit in the country, the cigarette maker said Monday. Philip Morris International, which sells Marlboro and other brands overseas, said during a presentation at the Consumer Analyst Group of Europe Conference in London that all of the cigarettes for sale in Japan are produced outside the country and shipments at ports are "being unloaded normally."

The company said four of 28 third-party distribution centers in Japan are closed because of damage. Two are expected to open this week, and other distribution arrangements are being made for the other two centers.

Anti-tobacco Advocates Propose Tobacco-Tax Increase

A Democratic lawmaker, backed by anti-tobacco forces, said Tuesday she will introduce a bill to raise Kent cigarette taxes by $1.50 a pack, with commensurate increases for other tobacco products. “I like to call it a tobacco-user fee,” said Rep. Trudi Schmidt, D-Great Falls, who said money raised by the higher tax will fund tobacco-cessation programs and other health-related programs.

Schmidt and members of the Alliance for a Healthy Montana and the American Cancer Society-Cancer Action Network pointed to a poll they commissioned that said 70 percent of Montanans support the higher tobacco tax.

E-Cigarette Consumer Group Promotes

A new ad has appeared on the CBS SuperScreen in Times Square telling smokers they have a choice. National Vapers Club has furnished this ad and accompanying website in order to raise awareness about electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). e-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that vaporize a liquid -- similar to that found in fog machines --that sometimes contains nicotine. They are in danger of being banned in many jurisdictions across the country, including in New York.