U.S.A: PACT Act 2009

[AngeLsLuv]

THE SITUATION: Right now there is legislation pending in the United States Senate - the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act of 2009 (“PACT Act”) (S.1147) which contains, among otherbad ideas, a provision to make ALL cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products nonmailable. This legislation has already been passed by the House of Representatives and is currently in a Senate Committee that could send it to the Senate floor at any time for a vote!

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU: By making all cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products nonmailable, the Senate is ensuring you will no longer be able to purchase these products by
mail-order, telephone order, and/or the Internet because the United States Postal Service, along with UPS, Fed-Ex and all other carriers will be prohibited by law from delivering your orders
to you. Taking away your options means forcing you back to buying over-priced tobacco products from your local retailer once again.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Contact your Senators and tell them not to pass the PACT Act. Your Senators should be protecting your interests, but it is up to you to let them know what you think about the PACT Act. There are three easy ways to contact your Senators - by telephone, email, or regular mail - all of which are explained below. Every state has two Senators - please remember to contact BOTH Senators for your state. At this point time is crucial, so a phone call is by far the best means to use!

THE POSTAL SERVICE: The price of stamps is being raised practically every year. The PACT Act will take an entire class of legal, non-hazardous goods and make them nonmailable. What this
means is a huge loss of business (potentially hundreds of millions of dollars) for the Postal Service. Will they continue to raise the price of stamps and other mail services to compensate for their lost
income? The United States Postal Service is already suffering a fiscal crisis due to the downturn in the economy. If the PACT Act is passed and millions of dollars of revenue are taken away, there could be serious consequences for consumers, including reducing the number of delivery days from 6 per week down to 5 or perhaps only 4 days per week.

COST: When the PACT Act of 2003 (S.1177) passed the Senate, the Congressional Budget Office prepared a Cost Estimate for the Bill. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the PACT Act
of 2003 would cost about $140 MILLION over the 2004-2008 period to enforce. $140 Million over four years - and that estimate is already six years old. How much will the PACT Act of 2009 cost to enforce? Isn’t there a better way to spend our tax dollars?

[doots]

Hi Everyone,

Correct me I'm wrong. PV's and Juice arent tobacco products.
Where is the tobacco in any of these products?
How can these be considered contra-ban under this law, if passed?

[Mac]

Originally Posted by doots

Hi Everyone,

Correct me I'm wrong. PV's and Juice arent tobacco products.
Where is the tobacco in any of these products?
How can these be considered contra-ban under this law, if passed?

All though that may have been true once the SE court case may change things. The court hearing comes down to a simple decision. If e-cigs are ruled a tobacco product they will be left on the market. If they are not then they become a drug device combo and immediately banned. So they are about to be either 1 a tobacco product or 2 completely banned.

Sucks doesn't it?

[ckc]

Internet sales are already being set up to be watched:-

To make sure that Florida actually acquires that revenue, lawmakers for the first time ordered regulators to begin tracking down Internet tobacco sales. Department of Business and Professional Regulation press secretary Alexis Antonacci Lambert said administrators are hiring seven people to begin the hunt.

Convenience Store Decisions

[TropicalBob]

This bill has created near-panic on the snus forums. It will shut down shipments of snus from Sweden, dissolvables I buy from Seneca Indian Reservations, nasal snuff from England, pipe tobacco custom-blended in Kentucky. The wording in it is a sham about terrorists profiting from contraband cigarettes; the bill's real purpose is clear -- collect state taxes now being lost on Internet sales.

E-cigs will be added to restricted items, even if they are not a tobacco product. Bet on that. Again, the goal is the herd all nicotine addicts to cigarettes sold in local tobacco stores only, fully regulated and massively taxed.

I'm not concerned only with e-smoking doors closing. I'm concerned with virtually every smoking alternative being effectively banned by this bill. This bill has a potentially more devastating impact than the Family Smoking etc. that gave the FDA authority over tobacco products.

[doots]

yes it all does suck!

[PlanetScribbles]

Originally Posted by Mac

All though that may have been true once the SE court case may change things. The court hearing comes down to a simple decision. If e-cigs are ruled a tobacco product they will be left on the market. If they are not then they become a drug device combo and immediately banned. So they are about to be either 1 a tobacco product or 2 completely banned.

Sucks doesn't it?

Is this where the phrase 'stuck between a rock and a hard place' comes from?

[DaMulta]

Like they won't pass it if u write to them complaining. It's all about the money.....smokers never win, and I don't see people that vape TAX free win anytime soon....

[BARENETTED]

Mark my words - that PACT ACT will pass with flying colors.

Do you know how much tax revenue is lost by people ordering out of state? Butts are 75.00 a carton here in NJ. I know lots of people who internet order for about 40.00. However, I know lots of folks that got caught and had to pay thousands back! Ecigs will follow. They are not going to let us get off free! They want our money even if they have to kill us for it!

[solonguniverse]

They can tax the hell out of it if they want. It'll still be cheap and I'll still get to vape. If all they want is my money and not my cancerous corpse, I don't mind too much.