Jump to full article: AP, 2003-05-09
Intro: The Lorillard Tobacco Co. is hoping people are more afraid of the mafia than they are of lung cancer.
The Greensboro, N.C.,-based tobacco company, the nation's fourth-largest, makes Newports and Kents. It launched an advertising campaign in three states this week that claims higher cigarette taxes encourage organized crime. . . .
"The mob, smugglers, and other street criminals are making a fortune selling illegal cigarettes while legitimate small businesses are forced to cut jobs," the ad reads.
The newspaper, radio and billboard ads began appearing Wednesday and are scheduled to run for a month in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware - three of at least 29 states where lawmakers have suggested raising cigarette taxes.
The ads specifically take aim at New York City's taxes, saying they created a market for smugglers who make knockoffs of name brands or buy cartons in other states and resell them.
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