You haven't pinged SL yet?
Hasn't she been the one to warn folks about this for some time now?
(Of course, back then it was only about smokers; non smokers didn't care. They may now, though.
No No! The US Postal Service brought out that they will NOT baby sit the mail. They don't have the time or the help. Which is a very good think.
And I think the FEDS do not like being told what to do!!!! heh!
5-30-05
Congratulations to our United States Post Office for holding the line and respecting Federal law. Now, if our federal government would only stand up to the State Attorneys General too and defend our Constitutional rights.....
"The Postal Service, citing concerns about the privacy of the mail and wary of putting postal clerks in the position of deciding which packages to accept and which to reject, is resisting the growing calls that it stop shipping cigarettes.
"Postal officials say that they are committed to fighting illegal activities conducted through the mail, but complain that their hands are tied. They note that Priority Mail, which officials say is most frequently used to ship cigarettes, cannot be inspected without a search warrant or the consent of either the sender or the recipient.
"Tobacco is a legal, mailable product," Mary Anne Gibbons, the Postal Service's general counsel, wrote last month in a response to the association of attorneys general. "It would be impracticable for postal acceptance clerks to make determinations on any given mailer's compliance with state excise or tax law or Jenkins Act filings."
The news that the United States Post Office will not stop delivering cigarette shipments was really great, but this story is even better!!! I found it on the Smokers' Forum, and Samantha already has it recorded in the Smokers Club Newsletter, Inc. It's a great start........
5-31-05 - PORTLAND, Maine -- A federal judge has struck down portions of a Maine law designed to prevent youths from smoking.
U.S. District Judge D. Brock Hornby said that while Maine's statute is laudable and well-intentioned, it runs afoul of federal interstate commerce laws by impeding delivery services.
Maine's 2003 law requires procedures to verify that those who purchase tobacco by mail are old enough to do so. It was designed in part to prevent youths from ordering cigarettes online and also to assist the state in collecting taxes that would otherwise be unpaid.
Under the Maine law, the person to whom the tobacco products are addressed must be at least 18 years old and must sign for the package. If the buyer is under 27, a government-issued identification must be shown at the time of delivery.
After the law was enacted, United Parcel Service announced it would no longer make consumer tobacco deliveries in Maine because it would have to modify its procedures for one product. The New Hampshire and Massachusetts motor transport associations, and Vermont Truck and Bus Association, whose members include cargo carriers, sued.
In his 37-page ruling Friday, Hornby agreed that Maine's law forces UPS to vary from procedures it uses in its international delivery system, which can affect the prices of its service and interfere with the orderly flow of packages.
The judge agreed that states may regulate the delivery of contraband, but only if it does not "significantly affect a carrier's prices, routes or services."
Hornby noted in his ruling that he had denied a preliminary request to block enforcement of the state law, but "now I conclude that two of the three challenged state provisions cannot survive the broad pre-emptive language of the federal legislation" and two recent decisions by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The ruling traces federal pre-emption of interstate commerce to an 1887 law. While Congress has written into the law some areas that are exempt from federal pre-emption, the Maine Tobacco Delivery law "fits none of the exemptions," the judge wrote.
Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution for the United States of America prohibits taxation of interstate commerce.
