ATF Flooding The Streets With Black Market Cigarettes

And the ATF’s clients are very happy about it.

The ATF has flooded the streets of America with 250 million cigarettes in the last three years, all in an effort to trap black market smugglers. The stings, conducted in Virginia, are ostensibly an attempt to crack down on terrorist funding sources. They didn’t catch any terrorists. That’s okay though, because in the meantime, some black marketeers were arrested, and that means ultimately the return of lost tax revenue for Federal, state and local governments, and…muscle for the tobacco industry.

The premise was to go after potential terrorist funding sources, but in the end, what is this really all about? Revenue. With cigarettes going for as much as $8 a pack in some places, the market for illegal cigarettes is booming, just as it would be for any commodity that is either illegal, or priced out of the budget of the customers. In this case, those customers are addicted Americans, that until they can find a way to quit, are in many cases being forced to find cheaper alternatives than paying retail. Of course. Would a heroin addict quit because the drug was too expensive? No, they would find a way to fund their habit. No different here. In fact, it was former Attorney General C. Everett Koop that said cigarettes are more addictive than heroin. You think these people are going to stop?

The government doesn’t want them to stop either. That’s tax revenue that cannot be recovered. If taxes on tobacco were suddenly gone, the budget messes for cities, states-and the feds would be much worse than they are now. Government depends on this tax revenue. The problem is that they have taxed it to the point where in many places, cigarettes are no longer affordable, and customers are turning to the black market.

Meanwhile, as the ATF keeps the cigarettes flowing, governments are cracking down on alternatives. California attempted to ban electronic cigarettes, but were stymied by governor Arnold Schwarzenegger when he wouldn’t sign the bill. The California attorney general is going after electronic cigarettes in a differnt way, trying to force them to prove the products are safe. There are no such attacks directed at big tobacco. This is going on at the same time the ATF is putting cigarettes on the street and making sure that the tax revenue keeps flowing. If you ask me, that’s what this is all about.

So the next time you see statistics showing cigarette smoking is declining, remember to weight that with the fact that the black market is booming and the true number of smokers is difficult to determine. Alternatives are coming down the pike, alternatives that would have an effect of drying up this potential terror funding source, but those things face powerful opposition. Special interests like the government and big tobacco will make sure of that. The government does not want you to quit. Big tobacco certainly does not want you to quit. You are revenue. Until they can find another way to pick your pocket you can be sure that alcohol and tobacco will be a protected commodity. Firearms? That’s another post completely.