BRIDGEWATER – Nova Scotia has become a hotbed of illegal cigarettes, a national advocacy group says, the Chronicle Herald reports. The National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco wants the federal and provincial governments to step up efforts to curtail contraband tobacco before the situation worsens.
“Something’s going on and it’s moving east,” said Jacqueline Bradley, the group’s executive director. “Atlantic Canada needs to jump on this and mitigate the damage. You do not want it to get as entrenched as it is in Ontario and Quebec.”
Bradley pointed to current penalties being too lenient to curb illegal tobacco activities, citing the example of a man recently jailed for the seventh time relating to possession and sale of illegal cigarettes.
The Atlantic Convenience Stores Association conducted a recent study that found on average that illegal tobacco made up 14% of samples from across the province, up sharply from 10% just two years ago. The association has called on the government to enact stricter enforcement and higher penalties, as well as conduct more education on contraband tobacco.
In Nova Scotia, the tobacco tax rose 2 cents per cigarette a few months ago, which is estimated to bring in another $18 million in revenue for the province. However, raising tobacco taxes usually generates a corresponding lift in illegal tobacco sales, and Bradley said that overall, around $2.1 billion annually in tax revenue is lost to illegal tobacco sales in Canada.
“Illegal cigarettes are funding very large, sophisticated, organized crime groups, and government needs to take this seriously,” she said. “People often think it’s just a few cigarettes, but it’s not about just a few cigarettes. It’s about 175 organized crime groups that are very sophisticated and entrenched in our communities and profiting from our kids’ lunch money.”
Other provinces are putting pressure on local and federal governments to step up policing of contraband tobacco. Recently, the Ontario Convenience Store Association applauded anti-tobacco measures that were included in the provincial budget.