From: Edmonton Journal
By Gary Grant
Canada has an illegal cigarette problem.
Too often, this is considered a problem of Eastern Canada. Ontario and Quebec let a nascent contraband tobacco problem develop and, because of a lack of early action, it became entrenched.
Now, illegal cigarettes are a significant portion of all cigarettes smoked in Eastern Canada. The criminals who run the trade have also made millions of dollars and are now looking to expand east and west.
And the spread has been clear. The Maritime provinces have seen an increase in the number of contraband tobacco busts. In Manitoba over the last eight months, more than two million illegal cigarettes have been seized.
Even Alberta is not immune. In 2011, nearly 16 million contraband cigarettes were seized in this province in a single bust. The year before, a single seizure netted more than one million. This is truly alarming considering the RCMP estimate that seizures only represent a tiny fraction — five to six per cent — of the total trade.
Contraband tobacco is cigarettes and other tobacco products sold without the proper taxes paid to government, be it provincial or federal. They are usually sold in resealable plastic bags and are extremely cheap, with a “baggie” of 200 cigarettes often costing less than the price of a movie ticket, about $90 less than the legal product.
Fifty illegal cigarette factories in Canada produce contraband tobacco, and a criminal distribution network — a drug dealer system, really — distributes it across the country.
But what’s the problem with illegal cigarettes? Contraband tobacco is not a harmless concern that sees smokers spend a little less on cigarettes. It presents real and meaningful dangers to families.
Illegal cigarettes, by definition, don’t contribute taxes to the government. We should worry about any tax loss, but the tax cost of illegal cigarettes is especially bad. According to the investigative news program W5, governments in Canada lose about $2.1 billion annually in tax revenues because of the sale of contraband tobacco.
That’s money that could be used to keep our streets safe, fix roads or fund schools.
Contraband tobacco is the cash cow of organized crime. And it’s a big business: Statistics Canada estimates that Canadians spend as much as $2.6 billion annually on contraband tobacco.
This money ultimately ends up in the pockets of some of Canada’s least desirable elements. In fact, the RCMP estimates there are about 170 criminal gangs that use the trade in illegal cigarettes to finance their other illicit activities. These include guns, drugs, and human smuggling.
Finally, and what concerns me most as a father, is the impact that illegal cigarettes have on our young people. Governments in Canada have, quite rightly, established stringent rules and regulations to keep cigarettes out of the hands of children, including banning sales to minors and requiring retailers to ask young people for age verification ID.
Contraband tobacco undermines these efforts. Its low price and easy availability, plus the fact that contraband dealers don’t check ID, make it a prime source for youth smoking.
In fact, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health flagged the easy availability of contraband as one of the reasons for Ontario’s stubbornly high teen smoking rate.
Making it easier for kids to smoke. Funding organized crime. Massive revenue loss. That’s the harm of illegal cigarettes.
This problem is at Alberta’s doorstep. It is time to take serious action.
Gary Grant is spokesperson for the National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco and a former Toronto police officer.
