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City targets another roll-your-own spot  

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It's round two of Mayor Michael Bloomberg versus the city's roll-your-own cigarette stores, with the city announcing yesterday that they've filed a lawsuit seeking to close yet another store on Staten Island.

The city Law Department filed suit yesterday against Victory Smoke Shop at 1765 Victory Blvd. in Castleton Corners, as well as another store in Manhattan, alleging that the shop evades cigarette taxes by providing its customers with loose tobacco, paper tubes, and access to a machine where they can make their own cigarettes.

Customers at Victory Smoke Shop can buy what amounts to a carton of cigarettes, or 10 packs, for roughly $30. A store-bought pack would otherwise cost $10 to $14 for a pack of 20 cigarettes, after customers pay the $1.50 city tax and $4.35 state tax.

The federal lawsuit comes just weeks after a similar store, Island Smokes in Great Kills, signed a consent degree to shut its business down in the face of a similar lawsuit.

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Bill would outlaw bulk smoke-rolling machines  

Anti-tobacco legislation making its way through Olympia would close a downtown small business, as well as many others around the state, if passed into law.

Senate Bill 6564, sponsored by Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, and Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Bellevue, would ban cigarette-rolling machines at stores that sell bulk tobacco.

For business owners like Casey Kroesser, the owner of DIY Tobacco in downtown Port Orchard, the legislation would be a death knell.

“If this bill went through it would close us down,” she said.

But stopping the proliferation of tobacco is more important than saving local businesses that operate these machines, Keiser said.

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City files lawsuit against City Smokes in Brooklyn and Staten Island's Victory Smoke Shop 

City lawyers Monday filed suit against City Smokes in Brooklyn and Victory Smoke Shop in Staten Island, arguing that they evade taxes by selling paper tubes and loose tobacco — taxed at a much lower level than prepackaged cigarettes.

“These legal actions are part of our ongoing efforts against businesses that think they can invent loopholes to skirt New York City’s tough cigarette laws,” said Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo.

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Measures seek to curb “roll your own” cigarette movement 

State legislators are looking to crack down on the “roll your own” cigarette movement, which has sprung up within the past year to help consumers find an alternative to paying soaring tobacco taxes.

Stores like U Count Tobacco in Aberdeen, which opened just four months ago, could be put out of business if one of several pieces of legislation up for consideration gets approved.

U Count Tobacco, on the corner of Myrtle and Simpson, sells the tobacco in bags and sells the cigarette tubes and paper. They also allow a user to rent a large cigarette packing machine that can stuff tobacco into the equivalent of 200 tubes for roughly half the cost of a pre-packed carton of cigarettes down the street at a convenience store.

Store owner Wayne Brown says the customer does everything — dump the tobacco, pack the carton and customize each cigarette with as much or as little tobacco as they want using an easy on-screen menu on the packing machine.

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Roll-Your-Own Cigarette Shop Crackdown Continues With 2 More Stores Sued 

The city's Law Department has filed two more lawsuits against stores that exploit a perceived loophole in the city's obscene cigarette tax law. You'll recall that New York Smokes, a retail tobacco outlet on Staten Island, was making bank selling customers loose tobacco, which is taxed at a far lower rate than cigarettes. Customers would then roll their own smokes in the store using cigarette stuffing machines, walking out with a pack for about $6--far less than the average $13 price. But then the city cracked down on that enterprise, and now the guv'ment is going after two more shops. . . .

Michael McGowan, the owner of Victory Tobacco, tells us he plans to fight the city. "We're not doing anything illegal," insists McGowan. "Why did they give us a license if we're illegal? We just rent machines so people can make their own cigarettes. We do not manufacture cigarettes. And the excise taxes are paid by the supplier of the tobacco, Fresh Choice tobacco."

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Cigarette rolling machine controversy 

A controversial new machine is popping up in Bay State stores and it helps smokers roll their own cigarettes and makes lighting up a whole lot cheaper.

A pack of cigarettes goes for nearly $10, with roughly $2.50 in state taxes. The new "roll your own" machines eliminate the state tax. A carton of hand-rolled cigarettes costs one-third of the price of manufactured ones.

People FOX 25 spoke to stand on both sides of the issue.

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LATHEN: Tobacco is NOT an equal opportunity addictor OR killer  

Tobacco related disparities are no accident. Armed with targeted marketing strategies, cigarettes and a whole line of addictive OTPs (other tobacco products), the tobacco industry’s tactics intentionally cause a higher burden on some populations than on others.

Smoking cigarettes leads to many health problems, including cancer, and many of us know one or more of these risks. But most people aren’t familiar with OTPs and the risks associated with using them. Packaged and flavored like candy, OTPs are noncigarette products that range from little cigars and Swisher Sweets to smokeless products like Orbs, which look like Tic Tacs. Cigarettes and OTPs are not marketed or taxed equally, resulting in many tobacco related disparities. . . .

Tax equity, as we call it, would tax OTPs at the equivalent of $2.52 per cigarette pack. If Wisconsin taxed all tobacco products the same it would make it harder for youth and low-income residents to purchase these addictive products, and it would generate tax dollars to help balance the state budget and supplement the TPCP budget.

Tobacco use goes beyond affecting the individual smokers. It affects communities in many ways, and some communities experience more adversity because of higher cigarette and OTP usage. As a community it is our responsibility to work towards reducing tobacco harm because tobacco companies certainly aren’t looking out for our health. Make a difference by writing to your legislatures today about how cigarettes and OTPs affect people in your community.

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State targets do-it-yourself tobacco shops for taxes  

The attorney general’s office introduced Senate Bill 6564 Jan. 30 which seeks to make roll-your-own machines illegal in the state of Washington. Roll-your-own tobacco supporters argued that the bill, which is sponsored by Philip Morris tobacco, is a way to squash small business competition.

The bill replaced House Bill 2565 which was heard before the Senate and House Jan. 23 and 24 and targeted only the so-called “tax loophole” that sponsors argued these small shops were exploiting. Shops like DIY do not pay a state or federal cigarette tax, which is $30 per carton for Washington state. Instead, they pay a lesser tobacco products tax.

“It will close us down,” Cassie Kroesser, owner of DIY Tobacco, said. “Quite simply, I will have to file for bankruptcy if this bill passes.”

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Roll-ups boom as UK smokers cut back  

SMOKERS trading down to value cigarettes and rolling tobacco in the UK boosted the owner of the Gauloises, Ducados, Lambert & Butler and Davidoff tobacco brands.

Imperial Tobacco said underlying volumes fell 7% in the final quarter of 2011 as sales were hit by the impact of sanctions in Syria, further declines in Spain amid the economic gloom, and destocking following a price rise in the US.

But revenues were down just 1% as it benefited from price rises and the sale of more expensive products.

And in the UK it has seen strong demand for its value brands, including JPS and Windsor Blue, and a rise in demand for fine-cut tobacco as customers roll their own to save money.

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State targets do-it-yourself tobacco shops 

The attorney general's office introduced Senate Bill 6564 Jan. 30 which seeks to make roll-your-own machines illegal in the state of Washington. Roll-your-own tobacco supporters argued that the bill, which is sponsored by Philip Morris tobacco, is a way to squash small business competition.

The bill replaced House Bill 2565 which was heard before the Senate and House Jan. 23 and 24 and targeted only the so-called "tax loophole" that sponsors argued these small shops were exploiting. Shops like DIY do not pay a state or federal cigarette tax, which is $30 per carton for Washington state. Instead, they pay a lesser tobacco products tax.

"It will close us down," Cassie Kroesser, owner of DIY Tobacco, said. "Quite simply, I will have to file for bankruptcy if this bill passes."

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Bill changing status of roll-your-own cigarette operations clears panel  

Legislation that would declare roll-your-own cigarette operations to be manufacturers, rather than retailers, and make them meet the same tax and regulatory requirements as major cigarette producers, will advance to the full House of Delegates after sailing out of a committee this morning.

On a bipartisan, unanimous vote, HB 314, sponsored by Del. R. Lee Ware Jr., R-Powhatan, cleared the House Finance Committee with an amendment exempting roll-your-own machines purchased for personal use.

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• A Rolling Debate: Consumer shops versus big manufacturing  

The rolling machines and cheaper smokes have put Tobacco Direct and stores like it in Virginia and other states at the center of a fierce, national controversy that highlights the complexities surrounding tobacco regulation and taxation.

That debate is now playing out in the Virginia General Assembly, with lawmakers so far voting against the roll-your-own businesses and for the views of tobacco companies such as Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc., the parent company of top U.S. cigarette maker Philip Morris USA, who say the shops are evading taxes and regulation.

But Tobacco Direct's co-owner and manager, Eddie Siu, said his Chesterfield County store is offering convenience and affordability to people who like to roll their own smokes.

"We are not trying to get more people to smoke," Siu said. "Instead, we are trying to offer savings for people who already smoke and might be struggling in this economy." . . .

Altria argues that the roll-your-own cigarette shops that have opened in Virginia and other states are taking advantage of legal loopholes to avoid excise taxes and federal and state regulations on cigarettes.

The company is backing legislation that would declare roll-your-own operations to be cigarette manufacturers, rather than retailers and make them meet the same tax and regulatory requirements as the major cigarette producers. . . .

Opposing the legislation is RYO Machines LLC, a company in Ohio that builds and sells roll-your-own machines, along with retailers such as Tobacco Direct that have installed the machines in their stores at a cost of $32,500 each. At least 18 machines are now operating in Virginia in 10 retail stores.

The roll-your-own businesses argue the legislation is simply intended to eliminate them, pushing a small but growing source of competition for major cigarette brands out of the market.

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• 'Roll-your-own' cigarette sellers dealt blow 

A House of Delegates subcommittee recommended approval Friday of legislation that would declare retail businesses with roll-your-own cigarette machines to be manufacturers.

The legislation is backed by major cigarette companies and a host of trade groups, but it has faced vocal opposition from a few tobacco shop owners in Virginia who say it would put them out of business. An Ohio company that makes and sells roll-your-own machines is fighting the legislation.

Altria Group Inc., the parent company of cigarette maker Philip Morris USA, argues the legislation is needed because roll-your-own businesses are not subject to cigarette excise taxes and other regulations imposed on large cigarette manufacturers.

"The purpose of the bill is to ensure that anyone making cigarettes in a retail establishment has to play by the same rules that everyone else in the business has to play by," John Rainey, a lobbyist for Altria, told the House finance subcommittee.

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Roll-your-own cigarettes is lighting up a fight in Richmond  

It's easy to see why shops like Tobacco Direct have become popular in other states. The price for 200 cigarettes produced on the Roll Your Own machine here is about half the cost of a carton produced by a traditional manufacturer.

Higher state and local taxes, fire safe papers and the tobacco settlement all add to the cost of retail cigarettes.

"We think everyone who operates a cigarette manufacturing facility in Virginia should play by the same rules, be subject to the same regulations and pay the same taxes on the manufactured cigarette products that all of the industry pays," said David Sutton of Philip Morris USA.

State lawmakers are now considering legislation that would regulate tobacco shops with the roll-your-own machines as manufacturers.

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Bill targeting roll-your-own cigarette shops advances 

A General Assembly committee advanced legislation Wednesday that would declare retail businesses with roll-your-own cigarette machines to be cigarette manufacturers, subject to the same taxes and regulations as cigarette companies.

The legislation is backed by the largest U.S. tobacco company, Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc., and other major cigarette makers and trade groups.

Opposing it are retailers who have installed roll-your-own machines in their stores and an Ohio company that makes and sells the machines. They argue the legislation is an attempt by big cigarette companies such as Altria to eliminate competition.

"If this bill would pass, it will put me completely out of business," said Eddie Siu, co-owner of eight Tobacco Direct retail stores in Virginia that have roll-your-own machines, including a recently opened store on Midlothian Turnpike.

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