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What's Now
Contraband Cigarettes Why should Manitobans care about what kind of cigarettes people are smoking? Because it directly impacts your wallet and your health. This impacts your health because contraband cigarettes are not made according to Canada’s Tobacco Products Information Regulations and packaging for these cigarettes does not require a list of ingredients found in the cigarettes, toxic emissions’ level information, or health warnings to be printed on the labels. This impacts smokers as well as non-smokers because second-hand smoke from these cigarettes can become even more dangerous when inhaled due to unknown substances in these contraband products. These illegal cigarettes also impact federal and provincial taxes. According to Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, tax revenue for the sale of legal tobacco products amounted to over $19.0 million dollars in Manitoba from 2007 to 2008 alone. Manitoba RCMP have reported individual cases where over 1.5 million cigarettes have been seized which would have resulted in a loss of over $427,000 in federal and provincial sales tax. Contraband tobacco products are also sold at lower prices without taxes that make it easier for young people to start smoking and for smokers to continue. Although the ultimate goal in tobacco reduction is to help people quit smoking and to prevent others from starting, the sale of contraband cigarettes affects both smokers and non-smokers either through their wallet or through their health. Action needs to be taken by the government, healthy living organizations, and the public in order to prevent the sale of illegal cigarettes. What you can do:
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