When the federal government raised the tax on the loose tobacco people use to roll their own cigarettes a staggering 2,000 percent, companies stopped selling “loose tobacco.” Smokers stopped buying it. Very little of the projected tax revenue of $35 million per month appeared.Yet smokers still roll their own cigarettes and still legally buy the ingredients.
Pipe tobacco is taxed at a rate of $2.83 per pound. Loose cigarette tobacco is now taxed at $24.78 per pound. Although pipe tobacco is, in general, cut rougher and sold moister than that used for cigarettes, there is no legal distinction between the products. They are taxed based on what their labels call them.
In just a few months, the production of tobacco labeled for pipes rocketed from 270,000 pounds per month to 1.7 million pounds per month. The production of tobacco labeled for cigarettes plummeted from 1.5 million pounds per month to 660,000.
It shows what happens when taxes unfairly target specific behaviors and assault narrow groups. Savvy producers and consumers have switched to unusually dry, unusually fine “pipe tobacco” for rolling their smokes.
There is no justification for hiking the tax rate of any legal product 2,000 percent. It places an undue burden on consumers of a legal product, and in this case, it placed an undue burden on the group of mostly small businesses that produce loose tobacco.
The tax increase, enacted alongside hikes in the federal levy on cigarettes and cigars, is pointlessly discriminatory. Why should people who place their tobacco in cigarettes be charged 10 times as much tax as people who place their tobacco in a pipe?
Again and again we see that taxes meant to change the behavior of the taxed backfire. They rarely raise the revenue their proponents promise, generally don’t cause people to act as predicted and often create unintended consequences.
The fairer a tax is, the harder it is to evade. An income tax, if the government stopped providing deductions targeted to manipulate behavior, would be fair and almost impossible to circumvent. A sales tax, if the government applied it to all items rather than excluding goods and services it wants you to buy, would be fair and almost impossible to evade. A property tax, if it simply reflected a set rate multiplied by the current value of property rather than varying based on behavior legislators want to encourage, would be fair and almost impossible to evade.
Seemingly incapable of learning, the federal government is now looking to set stricter legal distinctions between pipe and cigarette tobacco in an attempt to collect its money. Unmentioned is the issue of why the tax on one should be 10 times the tax on the other.
Perhaps government policymakers think pipes are cool and intellectual, and home-rolled cigarettes are just uncouth. If so, that’s a poor rationale for tax policy.

Ashtrays atop eatery tables and inside lobbies may go the way of the spittoon in Brandon if the city’s aldermen pass smoke-free legislation now under consideration.
Aldermen are considering an ordinance that will bar smoking inside most public spaces, such as restaurants and public buildings. The driving force behind the measure is the health of the city’s citizens, Alderwoman Yvonne Bianchi said.
“It would make a healthier community and a healthier city,” she said.
The legislation isn’t on the agenda yet. If passed, it will be the first of its kind in any Rankin County city.
Bianchi said Brandon Mayor Tim Coulter has asked aldermen for their opinions on the matter.”I’m ready to go forward with this,” Bianchi said, who has written to Coulter about her position.
Tawni Lovorn, of Mississippi Tobacco Free Coalition of Rankin, Scott and Simpson Counties, said her group has done presentations to a handful of municipalities in those three counties. Pelahatchie is studying the issue, and she said she’s pleased Brandon is considering tobacco-free legislation.
“This is a great example of city leadership taking on a controversial issue in order to protect the health of the citizens and visitors of Brandon,” Lovorn said. “Brandon would be the first of all the cities this coalition serves to go smoke-free, and we feel that it will help other cities do so as well.”
Such legislation prevents people from numerous health risks, Lovorn said.
“Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States,” she said. “Each year in Mississippi, smoking accounts for an estimated 5,250 premature deaths, including 550 deaths among nonsmokers as a result of secondhand smoke. Sixty-nine thousand Mississippi kids now under 18 will ultimately die prematurely from smoking, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.”Thirty-two cities in Mississippi are smoke-free, Lovorn said.
Rankin County approved a measure last year barring smoking and tobacco use in county buildings and county-owned vehicles. Although it raised some eyebrows at first, Board of Supervisors President Greg Wilcox said the measure was important to the health of citizens.
“At first, we had people questioning, but people understand that in public facilities like that, it’s smokers’ prerogative to smoke,” he said. “Non-smokers don’t have a say so unless we make some rules and regulations. We make sure people don’t get second-hand smoke in public facilities.”
The Mississippi State University study released this month showed Starkville’s smoke-free laws have improved the health of residents. It showed a 27 percent decrease in heart attacks among the city’s residents since 2006, when the city adopted its smoking ban.
Two cities in neighboring Madison County – Ridgeland and Flora – have adopted smoking bans, and Madison has a voluntary ban since its restaurants opted to go smoke-free on their own.
“(The study results) do not surprise me at all since smoking is so bad for your health,” Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee said. “I really believe that the smoking ban in Ridgeland will have a very positive effect on our citizens.”

After months of intense debate, the moment has arrived. Thursday, the start of the campus-wide tobacco ban, coinciding with the 34th Great American Smokeout, is finally here.
At a news conference Thursday, members of the Tobacco-Free Campus Task Force highlighted some of the implementation and treatment plans, while encouraging tobacco users to quit.
Thursday is a historical day for UK, said UK President Lee Todd, and the plan puts students, staff and faculty first.
Co-chair of the task force Ellen Hahn said between Nov. 11 and Nov. 17, 1,282 UK employees were anonymously surveyed, in which 26 percent said they would be more likely to quit using tobacco because of this policy. In the same survey, 76 percent said the policy would reduce secondhand smoke, and more than 50 percent said the policy would help them quit using, Hahn said.
From Sept. 10 through Nov. 13, 667 students were surveyed. Around 34 percent said the policy would reduce their tobacco use, and 27 percent said they would quit in the next 30 days at that time.
Hahn said 262 of the students who were surveyed were tobacco users, and they will be surveyed in the spring to see how the policy has affected them.
Hahn said the task force and administration are optimistic that the policy will lead to a positive change in the state, and called it “an investment in our young people.”
She encouraged students to utilize resources of the plan, including nicotine replacement gum and nicotine patches carried at discounted rates by the university.
Guy Hamilton-Smith, UK law student and former smoker of 10 years, said the policy encouraged him to quit.
Hamilton-Smith said he made the decision to quit over the summer because he did not want to try right before finals week.
Hamilton-Smith said he tried to quit cold turkey but it did not work, so he got counseling from University Health Services for his nicotine addiction.
“I’ve managed to stay smoke-free ever since then,” he said. “It really became part of my identity … it’s still quite astonishing to me that I’ve done it.”
Tim Bricker, chairman of pediatrics for the Kentucky Children’s Hospital, praised the policy for helping make people healthier.
Bricker said the policy is not about hating smokers, but hating what smoking is doing to those smokers.“There’s no cure that feels quite as good as a former smoker,” he said.
More than $1 billion a year is spent treating people who get sick because of tobacco in Kentucky, according to a pamphlet on the policy.
“That’s a billion dollars we could spend in other ways,” Todd said.

LIKE Stephen Alford, Flier’s anger after tobacco is seized, Echo, November 5, my sister and I travel during the year for various holidays and visiting relatives and we faced the same situation in March 2008 at Plymouth ferry port.
We had travelled over to France for three days to see our father who lives there, as he wanted us to take a new car over for him and bring his old one back to sell.
On our return we purchased four packets of 200 cigarettes and 10 packets of 50g tobacco which were gifts for our mother and my sister’s daughter.
This was not brought back into Plymouth for us to sell to anyone and, as my sister was a smoker anyway, it should not have made any difference.We were well under the limit of what we could have brought back into the country and, as we had purchased these goods in the duty free shop on board the ferry, we were within our rights to bring it in.
When we reached Plymouth passport control in our vehicle it was nearly 10pm.The customs officer waved all the vehicles through but he looked smirkingly at us, two women travelling alone late at night and stopped us.
He asked if we had any tobacco and cigarettes, so we told him the truth and that they were not to sell but for gifts.
He told us that we could keep the cigarettes but would have to seize the tobacco, which cost us £60, and also threatened to take the car!
My sister and I were not amused and explained that it our father’s car which we were able to drive.
He went off to see his boss and another officer came over sheepishly and said that he had to check the car, so we turned everything out to prove we had nothing apart from our weekend luggage and a few odd things we purchased in France.
He was very sheepish and realised that we had been picked on. The other officer had treated us as though we were criminals, although he did let us keep the car.
It was a very distressing situation and we felt very upset and intimidated by the ordeal which took nearly an hour to resolve.After signing various forms, they let us go and we eventually got home from a very long journey at midnight.
Like Mr Alford, we could have taken it further but it was such an ordeal we let it drop but we really should have reported the way we were treated.

Jaclyn Glover smokes clove cigarettes because they smell better, taste better and make her car smell like flowers. With a federal ban on the sweet-smelling cigarettes taking effect this fall, she went to tobacco stores and stocked up.
But once they are gone, Glover, 23, plans to quit smoking — which is exactly the intent of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s ban on clove-, fruit- and candy-flavored cigarettes.
In effect since Sept. 22, the ban’s aim is to reduce smoking, which kills 400,000 Americans annually and is the leading preventable cause of death. It is especially targeted at young people, since about 90 percent of adult smokers start as teenagers, and health officials regard sweet tobacco products as a young person’s gateway to nicotine addiction.The ban — which includes manufacturing, shipping and sale of candy or sweet cigarettes — followed authority given to the FDA in June to regulate tobacco through the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
Though the FDA will not be able to ban tobacco, it is evaluating regulations for menthol products and other fruit-flavored tobacco products. Other regulations expected in the future include new warning labels and ingredient disclosure on tobacco products.
The fruit-flavored cigarette ban was the FDA’s first high-profile move, which was hailed by health advocates but criticized by smokers and business owners.
“Before now, tobacco was the only consumable product that wasn’t regulated,” said Brad Burk, director of federal government relations for the American Cancer Society, Great Lakes Division. “It’s going to go a long way in helping people to stop cigarette smoking.”
But Glover, who plans to quit smoking clove cigarettes when she has no more, doesn’t believe banning them is going to make people quit smoking.
“Some of my friends are turning to cigarettes,” said Glover, a Clarkston resident.On the day before the ban began, many local tobacco retailers were keeping the products on their shelves to avoid losing the money they invested in inventory.
“We’re not going to throw them in the garbage,” said Syeed Monnan, owner of Hamtramck Smokers Inc. “That’s like throwing money away. I am sure people who smoke these are going to be upset. People should be able to smoke if they want to.”
Other retailers still had a few packs left for sale even after the ban went into effect, but as of last week, a spot check of tobacco shops showed most had only a few packs in store or no supply on hand.The government is asking customers to report any retailers who continue to sell the fruit-flavored products.
But manufacturers of the clove cigarettes are trying to get around the law. They have started using cigar papers, instead of cigarette papers, to lure customers.
“A lot of people who were buying the clove cigarettes are accepting the fact they are not going to be around,” said Elliott Arabo, owner of Smoky’s Fine Cigars in Royal Oak. “So they are shifting to cigars and chewing tobacco.”

Nov. 19 marks the 34th annual Great American Smokeout. During this day Americans from coast to coast will try to give up cigarettes for 24 hours.
Quitting smoking is tough to do alone. Smokers are more successful in quitting when they have support from family and friends and use nicotine replacement products, prescription medication or read stop-smoking guides.
These tips and publications from the Federal Citizen Information Center can help smokers leave cigarettes behind forever.
•The Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Women’s Health guide “Smoking: Medicines to Help You” reviews common nicotine replacement products such as lozenges, inhalers, nasal sprays, gum and the patch. It also covers non-nicotine medicines only available by prescription.
•The American Cancer Society offers Quitline, where smokers can request an encouraging phone call to help when they are trying to quit smoking. The society also offers information on smoking cessation resources.
•Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. The Lung Cancer factsheet from the FDA talks about warning signs and treatment options.
•Secondhand smoke can cause respiratory problems indoors, and the Environmental Protection Agency publication “Healthy Indoor Air for America’s Homes” explains the health effects and how to reduce them.
•Check out the FDA’s asthma factsheet to review chronic respiratory problems and ways to alleviate symptoms.

Cigarette maker Philip Morris has dropped its lawsuit challenging San Francisco’s prohibition on tobacco sales at pharmacies.
The announcement Thursday by the San Francisco city attorney’s office follows a federal appeals court ruling denying the company’s request for an injunction that would have kept it from enforcing the year-old law.
A spokesman for Altria Group Inc., parent company of Philip Morris, confirmed the suit had been dropped but had no further comment.
San Francisco officials passed the ban in 2008, noting the health problems associated with tobacco products.
City officials are still defending the law in a separate lawsuit brought by the Walgreens drugstore chain. A Superior Court judge dismissed that case, which is now on appeal.

Raids by Anglo-Irish forces smash smuggling ring with possible Real IRA links after unearthing 120m cigarettes.Republican dissidents are being linked to a cigarette smuggling operation smashed by an Anglo-Irish security operation.
More than 120m smuggled cigarettes were seized from a ship at Greenore, Co Louth. HM Revenue & Customs and police from both sides of the Irish border were involved in what is believed to be the biggest ever seizure of contraband cigarettes in the UK or Ireland.
About 150 police and security officers were involved in the operation which resulted in the arrest of two men from Co Armagh and eight from Co Louth. Security sources in Northern Ireland estimated the haul to be worth more than €50m (£45m). The ship was tracked from the Philippines on 15 September and was officially carrying animal feed as its cargo.
After the cargo was unloaded, officers followed trucks to another location and raided several premises in the Co Louth area. HM Revenue & Customs spokesman John Whiting said: “This smuggling attempt was organised crime on a global scale … Today’s operation shows that those who think they can exploit international borders for criminal purposes and to escape justice are wrong.”
Irish Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy said it was a “significant strike against organised crime”. Security sources told the Guardian that the gang behind the smuggling plot is linked to the Real IRA, who have been extremely active in recent months in the region.

MONTREAL, Nov. 3 /CNW/ – At the 6th Conference on Tobacco or Health being held in Montreal this week, numerous stakeholders are urging government authorities to declare a moratorium on new tobacco products to counter the innovative product launch and marketing strategies of cigarette manufacturers.
Several public health and tobacco control experts point out that tobacco companies are constantly developing new marketing strategies to circumvent the laws and regulations currently in force in Canada. These strategies include the introduction of new products such as ‘activated carbon filter cigarettes’ and flavoured cigarillos, which are alone responsible for increasing smoking rates in young people in Quebec.
“Health authorities are always struggling to keep up with tobacco industry innovation. While elected officials can be convinced it is important to act, as seen in the recent passing of Bill C-32 on flavoured cigarillos and cigarettes, introducing a moratorium on new tobacco products would be more effective and make more sense. We all know that if cigarettes were brought to market today, governments would never authorize their sale, given that they kill 50% of their users. New products allow the industry to lure and hook new customers and to win over smokers who are thinking about quitting. What is needed is a moratorium on all new tobacco products,” says Flory Doucas, co-director of the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control.
This industry has proved in the past that it is highly adaptable to new restrictions, by launching new products typically marketed as being less harmful than ordinary cigarettes, in order to make people forget the addiction and adverse health effects linked to tobacco. Light cigarettes and filters are two such examples. Life-style advertising on packaging is another.

Governments must pursue their public health and smoking reduction objectives by taking swift action to deal with a resourceful industry that is seeking to sell more of its products that are harmful to human health. It is important not to facilitate such tweaking by the industry. “The introducing of new products is a back-door way to evade public health measures and promote tobacco products and smoking. The industry has attempted to counter government warning messages, smoking bans and advertising restrictions by coming up with alternative products that remain a clear threat to public health,” Doucas stresses.
The moratorium sought would ban all new tobacco product brands, new types of tobacco products as well as new packaging.

Sometimes the craving for a cigarette is so deep that “it feels like someone has died in your family, and part of you isn’t there,” said Chris Jamroz.
Jamroz, 22, of Rothschild is one of thousands of Wisconsinites who has made initial steps to give up smoking in the wake of the 75-cent-per-pack state cigarette tax increase that took effect two months ago today. That put Wisconsin’s cigarette tax rate at the fifth-highest in the nation at $2.52 per pack, and set Jamroz’s price for a pack of Marlboros at about $6.25.
The higher cost wasn’t the only reason Jamroz decided to give up the habit, but it certainly gave him a strong nudge in that direction. Jamroz figures he paid an average of $6 per pack to maintain his pack-a-day-habit. If he can keep off the smokes, he’ll save $2,190 per year.
Stories such as Jamroz’s are common after any tobacco-tax increase. In September, the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line received 2,482 calls from smokers asking for help, compared with 899 calls in September 2008.
That’s the good news, say anti-smoking advocates who advocated for the tax increase to spur people to quit. The bad news? They say a lot more people could have received help in quitting had the Legislature not gutted the state’s tobacco-control budget even as cigarette taxes were going up.
“It went from $15.25 million a year to $6.85 million per year,” said Maureen Busalacchi, executive director of SmokeFree Wisconsin. “That’s about 10 times the cut every other agency was asked to make in the state.”
That means that the Quit Line program had to cut back on its marketing efforts and services, said Moira Harrington, the program’s communication director. Under normal circumstances, the program would have coordinated a media blitz advertising its services right after the tax increase. But “we simply did not have the money for advertising,” Harrington said.
The funding cut also meant counselors had to scale back their return calls to those trying to quit. Before budget cutbacks, a person trying to quit smoking could have expected four calls from a counselor after calling the Quit Line. Those callbacks have been reduced to one. That’s significant, Harrington said, because studies have shown that quitters are more successful if they are held accountable by an outside source, such as a regular call from a counselor.