Jump to full article: Alexandria (MN) Echo Press, 2010-04-07
Intro: Representatives of ClearWay Minnesota, an independent, non-profit organization that was funded through the state’s 1998 settlement with the tobacco companies, visited the Echo Press last Wednesday. ClearWay recently began a new campaign, “Unfiltered: A Revealing Look at Today’s Tobacco Industry,” that contains sobering news: The tobacco industry hasn’t gone away. It’s hard at work luring new customers – many of them young people younger than 18 – and keeping those who are already using tobacco hooked. . . .
So what can be done to snuff out this problem? ClearWay is proposing more aggressive legislation to close loopholes that tobacco companies are using to peddle their products to children. It’s called the “Tobacco Modernization and Compliance Act of 2010.” The act would classify “little cigars” as what they really are – cigarettes. This would subject the cigars to the existing regulations that apply to cigarettes, such as tax stamping.
The act would also ensure that new tobacco products are covered under existing regulations, such as not allowing them to be sold on the counter next to candy and gum. It would prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to youth.
Furthermore, the act would fund a state feasibility study to determine the best way to collect taxes and fees on all tobacco products, which would increase collections and reduce evasions.
The act, in our view, is a commonsense solution to a preventable health problem that continues to drive up healthcare costs and take countless lives every day.
Citizens should be outraged by the tobacco industry’s latest tactics to increase their profits at the expense of young people’s health. They should be deeply concerned that Minnesota’s laws have not kept up with the rapidly changing tobacco products market. They should support the Tobbaco Modernization and Compliance Act.
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