This bill will effectively make it impossible to buy/sell tobacco on the internet, by phone or via mail-order, with the exception of cigars. Please read the letter that is to be sent with this piece. The goal of this petition is to get snus excluded from the bill
We the undersigned
we are writing you regarding S. 1147, The Pact Act. The bill was introduced in the Senate on May 21, 2009, read twice, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
This bill aims to protect states revenue, prevent sales of tobacco to minors, and provide law enforcement the necessary tools to prevent cigarette trafficking. These are noble goals and essential to protecting America's youth from the harms caused by smoking. In addition, the bill aims to protect all American's by preventing terrorist groups and other criminal organization from receiving revenue from cigarette trafficking created by inconsistent tax laws. Although we do not favor this approach to prevent cigarette trafficking, I understand that trafficking is a difficult problem and instead would like to address the bills inclusion of smokeless tobacco.
Specifically we would like the bill to exclude Swedish snus. Swedish snus is a form of smokeless tobacco that has been in production and use for over 200 years, like specialty cigars, currently Swedish snus is difficult to find in retail stores and often must be acquired through mail order. Many American smokers have discovered Swedish snus and have used this product to dramatically reduce cigarette use or to quit smoking altogether. As we understand the PACT act, this legislation will prevent us from purchasing snus through the mail and make snus unavailable to many Americans that have quit smoking using this product.
In addition to helping smokers quit, several studies have concluded that the health risks associated with snus use are 98% lower that the associated risk of cigarettes. One example is, Systematic review of the relation between smokeless tobacco and cancer in Europe and North America, published May 2009 in BMC Medicine. You can read the study on-line using this URL: http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1741-7015-7-36.pdf .
Senator, please review this information and consider an amendment to S.1147 that excludes Swedish snus from the provisions of this bill.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
