I heard over on snuson forum that their is a bill in the works that will make shipping tobacco illegal or something to that effect. Makes sense. I guess lots of state tobacco tax revenes are being lost as well as american tobacco companies losing profits to world competition.

Anyone else heard about this and stocking up. At worst it will mean having local tobacconists (if you have one) special ordering (if they will) and paying a lot more than we are used to.

If it passes it will take a while to go into effect but there is likely to be a surge in orders and perhaps shortages.

What do you guys think about this?

I'm not 100% sure how it works, by a friend of mine was buying cartons from overseas for awhile. One day though they were seized. I can only imagine due to taxes you would get a letter requesting you pay taxes to get them shipped.

By tax revenues I mean if I bought from out of state a different state would get the tax revenue or if I bought from overseas US wouldn't get any tax revenue. That is pretty much how it is right now as far as I know.

If anyone knows the senate or house bill number for this legislation, please post so we can communicate our opposition to our elected representatives.

You are being unduly taxed, if as you say you can't buy from another state where they're cheaper. This is exactly why I said learn your rights now or they'll soon be gone.
Disingenuous explanations and excuses and a general lack of education is exactly why things have gotten so bad.

In the words of Clint Eastwood, "Don't piss down my back and tell me it's rainin'"

Tobacco was one of the traditional crops of the Southern States and I would have to check the history books but I would say tobacco was the driving force behind the language barring taxes on products exported from States.

Fair enough Snuffbox. As it is tobacco is subject to pretty strict government regulation. I asked whether tobacco companies are taxed when they export to another state because I don't know the answer. If the answer is yes then it would certainly conflict with Article 1 section 9 of the constitution that you mentioned.

If I had to guess I would say the answer is no, that tobacco companies are not taxed for exporting to other states. The importing states tax the tobacco based on their own state regulations. Which seems constitutional because it give the individual states authority in the matter.

I can't load up a trunk full of cigarettes and drive them to New York and sell them for a profit so that consumers can circumvent New York State taxes. That's smuggling. Export taxes don't really come in to play because its just plain illegal. Can I drive to North Carolina and purchase cigarettes for personal use at a cheaper price? Sure I could, there may be limits to the amount that I don't know about.

The core argument is whether tobacco should be subject to government regulation and the easy answer is yes.

Thanks for telling me you don't mean to give me a hard time, it helped to soothe my rumpled feathers. I agree that people should be more informed, myself included.

> The core argument is whether tobacco should be subject to government regulation and the easy answer is yes.

Matt, on what basis is the answer yes? Where does it say that the government has the authority to regulate it? This is not the way that system is designed to work. The Tenth Amendment explains it very clearly- the U.S. government is a government of Enumerated Powers. Your assumption seems to be (and this is the entire downfall of America) that the government can by default, do anything it wants. The truth is exactly the opposite. The central government has very limited powers, expressed explicitly whilst the States have very vague and broad powers. Anything that the constitution doesn't specifically say the government can do, means the government has no authority over. "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."

Stitch, you're on the right track but even more to the point, not only may tobacco not be taxed as an export between states, the federal government has no authority to regulate it. As crazy as it may sound that's the fact. It shows how far gone your once glorious Republic is. Anyway that's the way we learnt it in our political science programme some years ago. The professor was a brilliant expat fellow.

Snuffbox, I generally agree with tobacco regulations. It shouldn't be sold to minors, advertising for tobacco products should be restricted, and tobacco products, namely cigarettes, should be taxed greater than other consumer goods/products. Why? Because peoples choice to smoke places a burden on non-smokers. Higher rates of disease mean more non-smoker's tax dollars are being spent on health services like Medicare and Medicaid as well as higher premiums for private health insurance. Not to mention the offensive smoke and litter. I think restaurants should be non-smoking,but i think bars/nightclubs should allow smoking at the owners discretion. I guess thats about it.

The majority of taxes on tobacco are state taxes and states determine most of the other tobacco regulations as is, but when tobacco becomes regulated by fda that will change.

Cheers Snuffbox.

CA is not going to charge excessive taxes on hf corn syrup, they just banned it from being used. But its not as bad as people think especially if used in moderation.

None are perfect, but there is a lesser of two evils.

bob, You would be great as long as you leave my guns, gold & gemstones alone.

Ha ha ha, come and get em', I'll give them to you one bullet at a time.

Well there is already a 3rd. party which is Bob Barr who is the Libertarian Party nominee who will be on the ticket in November.
'
So we would have to be the 4th. party. Or we could just be the 1st. party since "We The People" are supposed to be first in this country.

I do however agree with Glenn Beck that we need to bring back the days of pitch forks & torches for when politicians get out of line. To help remind them that they are supposed to be working for us 'we the people' & not themselves.

Let's not forget the tar and feathers!

Unfortunately a vote for Barr is basically a vote for Obama.