Public Comment Forum

From: The National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco (NCACT)

Absent real action against contraband tobacco, new flavoured tobacco bans a windfall for criminals

OTTAWA, Nov. 24, 2014 /CNW/ – The National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco (NCACT) is frustrated that the government of Ontario’s proposed ban on flavoured tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, will further fuel the province’s booming trade in illegal tobacco.

“Just last week, Finance Minister Charles Sousa was trumpeting the need to take more action against contraband tobacco while introducing no new measures to do so. This week, they introduce legislation that will actually make the problem worse,” said Gary Grant, national spokesperson for the NCACT and a 39-year veteran of the Toronto Police Service. “Ontario is choosing to make contraband tobacco an even greater problem before they do anything to make it better.”

From: Fiscal Fitness, the blog of the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence

By Mark Haveman

Our recent blog post discussing one example of the unintended consequences of trying to modify personal behavior through the tax code made us wonder how Minnesota’s own big experiment along those lines was working out: our major increase in cigarette taxation.