Oct 31, 2007
Kingston Whig Standard
The local health unit is joining the call for the provincial and federal governments to take action against the growing problem of contraband cigarettes.
This week, a coalition of nine groups, including the Canadian Cancer Society and the Heart and Stroke Foundation, took the federal government to task for its "unexplained reluctance" to crack down on the trade in illegal smokes, which police estimate is at a level not seen since the height of the last smuggling epidemic in 1994.
As Kingston is midway between native reserves in Cornwall and Tyendinaga, the problem is particularly acute locally. Kingston RCMP officers routinely seize truckloads of native-manufactured cigarettes on Highway 401.
This year alone, Kingston RCMP have seized $1.36 million worth of contraband tobacco and 30 vehicles used to transport it, worth another $275,000, according to Const. Nancy Mason.
The unbranded cigarettes are also increasingly available on the streets of the city. Dave McWilliam, who deals with tobacco issues for the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington health unit, said it is particularly concerning because the smokes are finding their way into the hands of younger people.
"When you have bags selling for $8 to $12, they will be finding their way into the hands of youth," McWilliam said. "Our feeling is clearly this is an issue that needs to be addressed."
While cigarettes are manufactured legally at 31 federally licensed plants on reserves in Canada, those cigarettes are taxed and bear federal tax stamps. The clear plastic bags of 200 cigarettes are not, and so are not legal.
But the trade in illegal cigarettes is complicated and involves a number of different agencies and levels of government because they are manufactured on, or shipped through, native reserves, and organized crime plays a role in distributing the untaxed products.
"The RCMP, the health units, the Ministry of Finance, we all have a role to play in this," McWilliam said.
The local medical officer of health, Dr. Ian Gemmill, sits on the anti-smuggling committee of the anti-smoking group Canadian Coalition for Action on Tobacco, and McWilliam said the local health unit has been lobbying government to tighten the rules and stem the flow of contraband tobacco. But he noted this would be difficult given that the contraband is widespread and would inevitably involve the issue of native sovereignty.
The scope of the problem is forging some unlikely alliances.