Posted on 12/11/2002 7:28:49 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
The state is warning there could be a "period of time" next year when no cigarettes are available for sale in New York, The Post has learned.
The state Office of Fire Prevention and Control is expected to release regulations soon that will require that by next July, only self-extinguishing cigarettes can be sold in New York.
Buried in a progress report to the state Legislature obtained by The Post, the fire prevention office disclosed that tobacco companies fear they won’t be able to meet that mandate.
According to the July 1 memo, the companies say they need sufficient time to "conform a multitude of products to the standard and have those products distributed through the distribution chain to the retail shelves."
The report warns: "There could be a period of time after the effective date of the regulation where no cigarettes are sold in New York."
Hoping to reduce the number of cigarette-related fires, the state Legislature passed a law in 2000 that will make New York the first state to require that every cigarette sold be self-extinguishing.
Unlike regular cigarettes, which once lit keep burning, the self-extinguishing kind are designed to go out or burn less hot when not being smoked.
Fires started by cigarettes claim hundreds of lives nationally a year. In 1999, cigarettes were involved in 31 of 112 fire deaths in the city.
The chief sponsors of the 2000 legislation, Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Queens) and Assemblyman Alexander "Pete" Grannis (D-Manhattan), don’t see a problem.
"Can you imagine a company leaving this market empty?" Grannis said. "They’ll get it done because if they don’t meet the deadline, they’re not going to be selling cigarettes here."
Added Padavan, a smoker: "They have enough time. They’ve had more than enough warning this is coming."
Brendan McCormack, spokesman for tobacco giant Philip Morris, said yesterday that "anyway you look at it, it’s going to be a challenge to comply in that time frame."
The black market is going to provide a nice living for a lot of people and make some rich. Such beneficiaries will include smugglers, a whole host of state and local government officials, and lawyers on all sides. The losers will be the NY taxpayers.
It's gonna be Al Capone all over again.
Good point...although Bloomberg just raised property taxes 18%. I guess he can do that again.
In 1999, cigarettes were involved in 31 of 112 fire deaths in the city.
Obviously not. I hope they go after those idiots who are constantly burning apartment buildings and houses down by leaving candles lit. I bet they cause even more deaths than cigs.
More like John Gotti.
The criminal infrastructure required for a massive black market (read: "FREE" market) in cigarettes is already in place in NYC, has been for generations.
The city is to be commended for providing lucrative, long-term employment for thousands of unemployed wiseguys. Since Gotti's conviction, they've had to do (more or less) honest work.
Now, let the cash flow!!!
they will need to establish sufficent legal penalties to prevent this. I would suggest they pattern them after the laws against heroin and such.
First it's what you can ingest. Then it's what you can read. Then it's what you can think.
Ignorant proles! We'll tell them what they can and can't do! We'll tell them what's good for them! And if they don't like it they can rot in jail!
Well, actually it has been. To honest people. Usually. Well, most of the time. Or at least some of the time.
Equate safety with the most innane theory you can conjure and you are a winner!
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