Jump to full article: Nashua (NH) Telegraph, 2009-10-14
Author: HATTIE BERNSTEIN, Staff Writer
Intro: The state says a Brookline business that sells loose tobacco to customers who roll their own cigarettes on machines inside the shop is a cigarette manufacturer and is obligated to pay into a tobacco settlement fund.
But an attorney for North of the Border Tobacco, which operates under the name Tobacco Haven, told a Merrimack County Superior Court judge Tuesday that his client isn't manufacturing cigarettes and should not be obligated to pay.
Judge Larry Smukler heard arguments in the case and will issue a ruling in the next 30 to 60 days. In August, the New Hampshire attorney general's office cited the small business for possible violation of state laws, saying a violation might put the state at risk of losing millions of dollars in tobacco settlement funds.
Assistant Attorney General David Rienzo, who works for the consumer protection and antitrust bureau, said the case was the first in the state and possibly the country.
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