Monday, May 22, 2006 | 7:19 a.m.
Tobacco companies are taking advantage of legal distinctions between cigars and cigarettes, and 39 states, including Nevada, have joined in a petition to stop the practice.
At issue are smokes marketed as "little cigars," which attorneys general in the participating states contend are really just cigarettes wrapped in brown paper.
For a cigar to be a cigar, legally, it must be wrapped in leaf tobacco or another substance containing tobacco. Manufacturers of little cigars say there is some tobacco in the wrapping and therefore they are cigars. But the attorneys general say a cigarette's wrapping is less important, legally, than how it is marketed. Essentially, they say, if it looks like a cigarette, and is offered for purchase as a cigarette, it is a cigarette.
The distinction between a cigar and a cigarette matters, the attorneys general say, for two reasons. Most importantly, cigars were not cited in the 1998 tobacco settlement, meaning that they are exempt from the strict public health restrictions on advertising and marketing that were imposed on cigarettes. Also, cigars are not required to carry the same strict health warnings as cigarettes.
Little cigars are sold singly or in packs of as few as five. They can be bought in cherry, vanilla, raspberry, chocolate mint, rum and other flavors. This means they are both affordable for children, and attractive.
Additionally, cigars are not taxed at nearly the rate of cigarettes, which means if cigarettes designed as little cigars catch on, and they appear to be doing so, federal and state governments will be out millions in tax revenue.
The state attorneys general filed their petition with the Treasury Department's Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau. We hope the bureau recognizes the loophole discovered by the tobacco companies and tightly sews it shut.
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