Illinois attempts to regulate little cigars
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois is holding the tobacco industry’s feet to the fire as it looks to tame little cigars.
The state has joined 38 others in a petition to the federal government claiming little cigars should be classified as cigarettes and regulated and taxed as such.
Ben Weinberg, chief of the public interest division for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, said the dispute was an offshoot of the landmark 1998 tobacco industry settlement. Along with an agreement from the involved tobacco companies to pay states for health costs associated with cigarettes, the companies also agreed to make other changes.
“There’s a number of public health restrictions on what tobacco companies can do,” he said. “They can’t target kids. There used to be Joe Camel and cartoons. They can’t do that anymore. All of those rules apply to cigarettes; they don’t apply to something called little cigars.”
Although little cigars have been around for years, Weinberg said the tobacco companies are trying to use them to beat the system.
“We all know what the difference normally between a cigarette and cigar is,” he said. “A cigarette is wrapped in white paper, and cigars are wrapped in tobacco leaves. These fake little cigars, all they are are cigarettes with brown paper.”
He said the little cigars are being marketed toward young people.
“They’re flavored with chocolate or chocolate mint or raspberry vanilla, and those we believe certainly appeal to children,” he added.
Bud Kelley, legislative consultant to the Illinois Association of Candy and Tobacco Distributors, disagreed.
“I’m sick and tired of hearing that because I’ve been a tobacco lobbyist for 30 years, and that’s not what entices kids to smoke,” he said. “That makes good print and everything, but if a kid is going to smoke, he’s going to smoke because he hasn’t had the proper training from home.”
Weinberg said the tax on little cigars is unfair because it is structured differently than cigarette taxes. He said little cigars should have just as high of a tax as cigarettes because young people are less likely to buy tobacco products that cost more.
Peter Feller, general counsel for the Cigar Association of America, said the federal tax rate would have to be changed through the U.S. Congress, so it is a non-issue.
The federal government allows tobacco companies to decide the difference between cigarettes and little cigars, Weinberg said.
Feller agrees the two products should have clearer descriptions, so there is no controversy when new laws are created.
Weinberg said the states filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Treasury, but it is too early to tell when the matter will be resolved.
