Tobacco Laws (Help me understand)

[Tarks]

I live in Canada and I'm not in the loop when it comes to all the talk about SCHIP and other tobacco laws in the US that I see so many of you discussing on the forums. To be honest, I don't really want to read through all the posts (I kinda find it dry to read). But I am interested to understand what the heck is going on.

Can anyone give me the low down in a nutshell? Whats going on? Where is this going? How is this going to effect pricing?

Thanks.

[Cigary]

The debate in the U.S. Congress over proposed legislation to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which could raise the federal excise tax on cigars from $.05 to $3.00 per cigar is now in play. What does that mean to the average cigar smoker? I find that I still pay the same amount for the cigars I smoke as I use online retailors and C Bid. For those that purchase their cigars from B&M's they will probably notice the tax before anyone else.

[s.tyler]

the congress also passed a law this week that allows our food and drug admin to regulate tobacco. obviously most of the bill is about cigarettes and will greatly impact how cigarettes are marketed. its not entirely clear what exactly it will mean for cigars. it does spell out that the tobacco industry will pay for the regulation thru fees so its safe to assume that tobacco prices will increase. the bottom line is that the us congress wants to raise revenue without having to raise income taxes and all types of "sin" are being looked at - sodas, junk food, alcohol etc.

[strider72]

Gee, the liberals must be in power... tax the **** out of everything time.

[s.tyler]

the latest bill, the fda one, passed with pretty strong bilateral support.

[beaglepower]

"Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason"