Illegal tobacco seizures have skyrocketed within the Massachusetts following a 2020 ban on menthol cigarettes and different flavored types of tobacco, based on a state job power report.
“Inspectors and investigators are routinely encountering or seizing menthol cigarettes, originally purchased in surrounding states, and flavored (Electronic Nicotine Delivery System) products and cigars purchased from unlicensed distributors operating both within and outside the Commonwealth,” the Illegal Tobacco Task Force Annual Report for 2023 reads, partially.
In June of 2020 Massachusetts grew to become the primary state to implement a full ban on the sale of menthol and flavored tobacco merchandise and vaping gadgets. The purpose, based on lawmakers, was to scale back the variety of folks hooked on nicotine by eradicating merchandise from the market which researchers say have traditionally been focused at low revenue communities and youths.
The consequence has been a leap in tobacco product seizures, up from 5,377 in 2021 to 18,483 in 2022, based on the annual report.
Part of the issue, based on the New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association, is that not one of the states surrounding the commonwealth adopted swimsuit in banning flavored tobacco. NECSEMA government director Peter Brennan says illicit sellers are shopping for banned merchandise in bulk elsewhere and promoting them within the commonwealth.
“Massachusetts’ failed tobacco policies have robbed the state of millions in vital tax dollars for prevention and education while having little to no impact on smoking trends,” he stated in an announcement following the annual report. “Both organized criminals and petty smugglers are reaping millions from this newly-created illicit market while the state is being forced to spend more and more on enforcement, with no long-term plan in place.”
Just final week, Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s workplace reported it had levied expenses in opposition to a pair of males allegedly engaged in a tax evasion scheme involving flavored tobacco vaping merchandise.
“The alleged tax evasion resulted in a calculated tax loss of up to $4.8 million to the Commonwealth,” Campbell’s workplace wrote when saying the costs.
The state’s ban on menthol cigarettes and different flavored tobacco merchandise has coincided with a discount in excises taxes of over $120 million since 2020, based on the Task Force’s report.
But the cash remains to be being spent on tobacco, based on a spokesperson for the comfort retailer affiliation, simply in different states
“Nearly 90% of those sales shifted out of state, primarily to bordering New Hampshire and Rhode Island,” they wrote.
Since the ban on menthol smoking went into full impact in June of 2020, charges of cigarette smoking within the commonwealth amongst adults have fallen simply 0.5 factors, from 11.1% in 2021 to 10.6% in 2022, based on the Task Force report.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”