Smuggled smokes
Seizure of illegal tobacco jumps in Massachusetts, according to report
Illegal tobacco seizures have skyrocketed in the Massachusetts following a 2020 ban on menthol cigarettes and other flavored forms of tobacco, according to a state task force 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, in part.
In June of 2020 Massachusetts became the first state to implement a full ban on the sale of menthol and flavored tobacco products and vaping devices. The goal, according to lawmakers, was to reduce the number of people addicted to nicotine by removing products from the market which researchers say have historically been targeted at low income communities and teens.
The result has been a jump in tobacco product seizures, up from 5,377 in 2021 to 18,483 in 2022, according to the annual report.
Part of the problem, according to the New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association, is that none of the states surrounding the commonwealth followed suit in banning flavored tobacco. NECSEMA executive director Peter Brennan says illicit sellers are buying banned products in bulk elsewhere and selling them in 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,” Brennen said in a statement 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 last week, Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office reported it had levied charges against a pair of men allegedly engaged in a tax evasion scheme involving flavored tobacco vaping products.
“The alleged tax evasion resulted in a calculated tax loss of up to $4.8 million to the Commonwealth,” Campbell’s office wrote when announcing the charges.
The state’s ban on menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products has coincided with a reduction in excises taxes of over $120 million since 2020, according to the Task Force report.
But the money is still being spent on tobacco, according to a spokesperson for the convenience store association, just in other 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 effect in June of 2020, rates of cigarette smoking in Massachusetts among adults have fallen just 0.5 points, from 11.1% in 2021 to 10.6% in 2022, according to the Task Force report.