Jump to full article: Connecticut Attorney General's Office, 2008-04-24
Intro: Attorney General Richard Blumenthal will testify before a congressional committee later today in Washington D. C. supporting a measure to prohibit mail shipments of cigarettes and other tobacco products.
If passed, the bill would effectively end sales of cigarettes and tobacco products over the Internet. The nation's private delivery services -- including United Parcel Service, Federal Express and others -- already have a voluntary ban on shipment of cigarettes and other tobacco products.
"The mails should dump -- not deliver -- cigarettes," Blumenthal said. "We should put Internet sellers of cigarettes out of business and eradicate smoke and mirrors in the mail. Congress must bar mail delivery of cigarettes to effectively crash Internet sites selling cigarettes, and fight teen smoking and tobacco tax evasion.
"We cannot permit the United States Postal Service -- an arm of the government -- to deliver death and addiction to children. Laws enabling it should be ended. . . .
Blumenthal is scheduled to testify at 3 p.m. today before the Federal Workforce, Postal Service and District of Columbia Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Jump to full article » |