Monthly Archives: July 2014

From: The Tax Foundation

By Scott Drenkard

From: PanAm Post/Opinion

Busybodies Fail to Improve Health, Do Make Smuggling More Profitable

David Rodríguez Suárez

Franklin Murillo, the manager of British American Tobacco in Costa Rica, told La Nación on March 31 that “In the face of higher taxes on a legal product … an illicit market will arise that does not compete under equal conditions and provides products at lower prices and lower quality.”

This is a phenomenon that merits our attention. Since the enactment of the Anti-Tobacco Law in Costa Rica on March 2012, we’ve been under the impression that cigarette use has gone down. However, in reality, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in illegal smuggling, and all because of a lack of understanding of how the market works.

From: News Herald

DAN ARSENAULT Crime Reporter

More Nova Scotians appear to be opting for cheap contraband cigarettes, according to a “butt study” paid for by the Atlantic Convenience Stores Association.

For the study, Montreal research firm Niric analyzed 3,050 cigarette butts collected from 27 locations across the province this spring, and found that one in five were illegal, or contraband, smokes.

The numbers show a 40 per cent increase (from 14.6 to 20.4 per cent) from a similar study done in 2013.

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From: nvDaily.com

By Joe Beck

The prosecution in a cigarette trafficking case is planning to propose an order that the next courtroom hearing scheduled for Aug. 6 in Shenandoah County Circuit Court be closed to the press and the rest of the public.

Attempts to conduct courtroom hearings behind closed doors are a rarity in adult criminal cases, but Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Louis Campola said he intended to write up such an order subject to approval by Circuit Judge Dennis L. Hupp.

“We’re closing the hearing,” Campola said in a brief interview Tuesday.

From: FRIDE – A European Think Tank for Global Action

By Thomas Renard (Egmont – Royal Institute for International Relations)

Organised crime is a major security challenge.