Maine: AG Rowe seeks stricter tobacco delivery law BARF Alert!

AUGUSTA - Maine's attorney general called for congressional action Monday after the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals last week upheld a ruling that invalidated a significant portion of a 2003 state law aimed at preventing youth access to tobacco from Internet and mail-order sales.

A three-judge panel of the appellate court in Boston on Friday agreed with a federal judge in Maine and ruled that Maine's law interfered with timely delivery procedures by private delivery firms such as United Parcel Service.

Attorney General Steven Rowe is considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, his spokesman Chuck Dow said Monday.

Rowe also may ask the 1st Circuit to reconsider the case "en banc," in which all six 1st Circuit Court judges would review the decision.

While pursuing the matter in court, the state has negotiated agreements with major commercial carriers and major credit card firms that they would not deliver tobacco products to minors or process Internet sales of tobacco products to youth.

The U.S. Postal Service, however, is not barred from delivering tobacco products to minors.

Rowe has urged U.S. Sen. Susan Collins to reform the postal laws to prohibit the delivery of tobacco products to minors, Dow said Monday.

"After enactments of the state statutes, and voluntary agreements by carriers and credit card companies, it is ironic indeed that the USPS serves as the last remaining channel for the delivery of cigarettes to minors," he said in a letter to Collins. "Due to the other carriers' refusal to serve as conduits for delivery, the delivery of cigarettes to minors by the USPS will undoubtedly continue to increase."

Collins has said that she would look into the matter and consider introducing legislation to address the problem.

The Maine law ruled unconstitutional by the 1st Circuit applied only to private carriers. It required procedures to verify that those who purchased tobacco by mail for delivery were old enough to do so.

The statute was designed to prevent youths from ordering cigarettes online and also to assist the state in collecting taxes that otherwise would be unpaid.

U.S. District Court Judge D. Brock Hornby ruled a year ago that while Maine's statute was well intentioned, it ran afoul of federal interstate commerce law by impeding delivery service.

Under the law, the person to whom the tobacco products were addressed must be at least 18 years old and must sign for the package. If the buyer was under 27, a government-issued identification had been shown at the time of delivery.

After the law was enacted, UPS announced that it would no longer make consumer tobacco deliveries in Maine, even to adults. Members of regional transport associations joined UPS in challenging the law in federal court.

The state argued before Hornby that the law simply held on-line sellers to the same standards as store clerks who sell tobacco.

The judge found that the state could regulate contraband only if it does not "significantly affect a carrier's prices, routes or services."

Maine is one of 16 states that have passed laws restricting home-delivery tobacco sales.

Hey Rowe, you idiot, minors DO NOT HAVE credit cards! Thus cannot order online.

Isn't that awful? Aren't we just sick to DEATH about them forever harping the same tune about minors ordering off of the NET?

I know for a fact that we never gave our daughter a CC without our knowlege and nothing was ever delivered to this house for her that we didn't know about.

This business of "it's for the kids" is a crock of BS and I'm SICK of it!

BTW, AG Rowe? Can't even reach the idiot by email. He has no email addy. If he does, it's been recent, because I have tried for years to email that man.

And the same people yell and scream about intercepting calls to and from terrorists, as if that is intrusion on the rights of Americans.

People are eventually going to start fighting back, and frankly it can't be soon enough. Back #@$wards.

American's NEED to start fighting back! Cigarettes are legal. I don't care how non smokers keep saying they stink and they can't stand the smell etc etc etc and how being around smokers causes their allergies to act up. You have heard it all, I am sure.

But there has to be room on earth for smokers AND non-smokers. Don't want to be around smokers? Then don't GO where smokers are. How hard can it be?

The anti's never could say anything to shame ME into quitting. Hey! As long as cigarettes are legal, it's my choice to buy and smoke them.

Make no mistake about it, it is all about the money!

States push federal government to treat little cigars like cigarettes

By NANCY ZUCKERBROD

WASHINGTON, May 18 — The states are once again doing battle with the tobacco industry. This time it's little cigars.
Attorneys general from 39 states and Guam say these smokes are really just brown cigarettes and ought to be identified as such.
Cigarettes are taxed at higher rates and fall under stricter marketing rules than cigars. For example, the youth marketing restrictions imposed on cigarette manufactures as part of their 1998 landmark settlement with the states does not apply to cigar makers.
The attorneys general have asked the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to issue new rules that would clarify how little cigars should be categorized.
The attorneys say it is important to act now because sales of small cigars are increasing. They say low prices and, in some cases, sweet flavorings added to little cigars make them attractive to young smokers.
''The states believe that cigarette smokers have switched to the cheaper cigarettes intentionally misclassified and mislabeled by unscrupulous manufacturers as ''little cigars'' in order to continue to smoke cigarettes, at a cheaper price,'' the attorneys general wrote in a petition to the bureau, which was made public Thursday.
''It's a slick way of getting around taxes,'' Montana Attorney General Mike Mcgrath said in a telephone interview.
''Call a cigarette a cigarette. I've got them in front of me. There isn't any question these are cigarettes,'' Mcgrath said. ''It's peach flavored. Now who would want a peach flavored cigar? Maybe a high school girl.''
While the attorneys say the only distinction between little cigars and cigarettes often is that the little cigars are brown, industry officials contend that wrappers on little cigars contains tobacco, which isn't found in cigarette paper.
Industry officials also say the tobacco used inside little cigars is different from that found inside cigarettes.
Calvin Phelps, president and CEO of Alternative Brands Inc., which produces little cigars for several companies, said most little cigars are exactly what they claim to be.
''Little cigars have been around about as long as cigarettes have,'' Phelps said. ''If they know of unscrupulous manufacturers, they should be punishing the offenders not the industry as a whole.''
Thomas Hogue, a spokesman for the tax and trade bureau, said the agency is looking at the issue and trying to come up with a ''bright line'' that clears up confusion around cigars, cigarettes and little cigars.
Craig Fishel, a spokesman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., said, ''We look forward to being involved in the process of ensuring that all tobacco products are properly classified, be it cigarettes, cigars or little cigars.'' R.J. Reynolds is a subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc., which also owns Lane Limited, which makes little cigars.
Anti-smoking advocates are backing the attorneys general.
''Youth are attracted to both candy-flavored cigarettes as well as tobacco that is inexpensive, so these 'little cigars,' appear tailor made just for them,'' said Cheryl Healton, president and CEO of the American Legacy Foundation, which runs anti-smoking campaigns.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/ap05-18-105754.asp?t=apnew&vts=51920060038

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.