Online Tobacco

NY state to enforce ban on Internet cigarette sales.

NY state has began enforcing a ban on cigarette sales through the Internet.
In 2000 legislators and Gov. George Pataki agreed to ban cheap cigarettes sales made over the Internet. The measure prohibits private motor carriers, such as FedEx, from delivering Internet and mail order shipments of cigarettes directly to consumers.
The NY state will employ a variety of mechanisms to enforce the law, said Michael Bucci, a spokesman for the Department of Taxation and Finance of New York. The law gives the state the ability to go after carriers which deliver shipments, he said. And while the state has no authority over the U.S. Postal Service, it can prosecute shippers who violate the law, Bucci said.
A coalition of businesses that are seeking to end untaxed sales of cigarettes and fuel on NYc Indian reservations, applauded the measure.