Jump to full article: Nashua (NH) Telegraph, 2009-11-17
Author: HATTIE BERNSTEIN Staff Writer
Intro: Customers are still rolling their own smokes at Tobacco Haven, despite a superior court ruling Monday that says the Brookline shop is a cigarette manufacturer that hasn’t been paying either the mandatory Tobacco Settlement tax, or making escrow payments.
Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Larry Smukler issued a temporary injunction against Tobacco Haven on Monday, ordering the shop on Route 13 to either ensure that its supplier has paid the required tax or escrow payment, pay itself, or stop operating its two high-speed cigarette-rolling machines.
The machines take loose tobacco and roll 200 cigarettes in a matter of minutes. A carton costs $25.99, while cartons of many name brand cigarettes can cost twice as much. Customers have flocked to the store, often lining up to use the machines.
What’s at stake here is a lot more than where people can buy cheap smokes. The state filed suit against the company in August because New Hampshire stood to lose about $50 million in tobacco settlement money.
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