ALBANY – Two advocates have joined the fight in New York to end the sale of tax-free cigarette to Native American retailers.

The Buffalo News reports that R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris are supporting legislation in New York that would make it illegal to do business with wholesalers who sell tax-free cigarettes to Native American retailers.

On June 6, the New York Assembly passed legislation that would bar cigarette manufacturers from providing product to any licensed wholesale distributor that sells unstamped cigarettes to Native American retailers in violation of a state law that took effect March 1 – the same law the Pataki administration is refusing to enforce, notes the New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS).

NYACS is urging the state Senate to quickly pass the measure for it to be vetoed by Gov. Pataki (R) and subsequently overridden by the legislature prior to its June 22 adjournment. Once the bill is enacted, it would become effective immediately and cut off supplies of tax-free cigarettes to Native American retail outlets.

In what the Buffalo News calls “a surprise to anti-smoking lobbyists,” R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris are supporting the measure.

“We support it because it addresses the ongoing uncertainty of the [American Indian] tobacco sales," said Philip Morris spokesman Dana Bolden.

R.J. Reynolds spokesman Fred McConnell echoed that the company supports the legislation “because it accomplishes the goal of preventing the sale of untaxed cigarettes without placing an undue burden on us.”