From: The Sachem & Glanbrook Gazette
Haldimand Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett
The Ontario government has allowed the illegal tobacco industry to flourish.
It is believed contraband tobacco activity in Ontario sits somewhere around 33 per cent and in some areas the numbers are estimated to be closer to 50 per cent. Many argue the illegal industry in Ontario is the worst of any advanced economy in the Western world.
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Ontario also boasts the highest level of young smokers in Canada. High school students in Haldimand-Norfolk can walk to the parking lot and buy cheap smokes out of the trunk of a car without having to show ID. Accessibility is at the root of this stubbornly high consumption.
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One of the biggest problems I have is that governments pick the low-hanging fruit. Instead of getting to the root – those who manufacture, smuggle and deal – government focuses on tobacco growers and smokers who buy at the shacks.
As a result, the illegal cigarette dealers, those who smuggle, those who manufacture, have little to worry about. It’s low-risk and lucrative for organized crime.
Recently, the Wynne government banned menthol cigarettes – it’s just a matter of time before that product goes underground. Before we make more changes on the legal side, shut down the illegal.
