Tobacco.org

Bay City businesses upset with federal ban on flavored cigarettes  

Timothy Socier owns Timothy's Fine Tobaccos in downtown Bay City. He was forced to remove clove cigarettes from this store after the government ban went into effect on Tuesday.

"They were a very small part of the business," Socier said. "My big frustration is that the federal government is involved in my business."

Other small businesses expressed similar views, saying the ban won't necessarily hurt the bottom line, but is another example of government interfering with business. Socier said he received notice of the ban two weeks ago, forcing him to sell the soon-to-be banned inventory at a significant discount.

"Eventually (the government) is going to put me out of business," said Socier.

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