Controversial cigarette-making machines

This is a pretty controversal subject within different groups including the chemical dependency counseling community. A chemical dependency counselor will generally agree with the side that these machines are not okay at all and are only acting as an oppossing force in the drug war. According to the article, business in stores with these machines has been "crazy". More on the story...

"Thanks to tax loopholes, savvy smokers can roll their own carton of cigarettes for half the cost of buying from a manufacturer -- and they can do it in eight minutes.

Using pipe tobacco, which is taxed almost three times less than cigarette tobacco, a rolling machine and empty cigarette tubes, the serious smoker can save about $1,500 a year.

The loss of tax revenue has caught the attention of the Michigan Department of the Treasury.

In a notice dated
March 1 sent to smoke shops across the state, the department warns store owners they could face criminal penalties if they allow cigarette rolling machine use to continue.

"...The operation of a machine that is loaded with loose tobacco and rolling tubes for the purpose of producing cigarettes constitutes 'cigarette manufacturing' in Michigan.' ...Exempt from this requirement would be those who meet the exception for self-consumption under federal law," the notice said.

The state has yet to take legal action against a store owner or automated rolling machines.

But with automated rolling machines hitting Michigan smoke shops several years ago, more and more people are rolling their own.

Store owners argue their customers -- such as Kelly Gajowiak of New Baltimore -- fit the "self-consumption" category. Gajowiak was one of 10 people who walked into Let's Roll Tobacco in New Baltimore during the last hour it was open Thursday.

After paying $29.99 plus tax, she selected half a pound of pipe tobacco of her choice and dumped it into the top of a rolling machine. She loaded in a carton's worth of empty tubes, and pushed three buttons. A few whirring noises later, a filled cigarette rolled off a chute and into a waiting container.

"You roll your own, they taste good and there are no chemicals," Gajowiak said, referencing the fire-retardant chemicals found in manufactured cigarettes.

Jerry Thompson of Kimball Township said by rolling his own cigarettes, he's cutting the money he would spend in half.

Thompson has been hand-rolling his own cigarettes for 15 years. Four months ago, when he discovered the RYO Filling Station at Smokers Outlet in Fort Gratiot would do the same thing for the same price he's been paying for years -- only exponentially faster -- Thompson jumped on board.

He visits the store three to four times a month and pays $29.99 for tobacco, empty cigarette tubes and use of the machine.

Thompson said he's renting the machine, not buying cigarettes manufactured by the store.

"I think it's nonsense," Thompson said of the state's warning. "Senseless."

Let's Roll Tobacco owner Henry Vitella opened his store in July 2010. With just one RYO Filling Machine, Vitella said he soon realized the need for two. Each $31,000 machine is capable of turning out a carton of cigarettes in less than 10 minutes.

How's business?

"Crazy," Vitella said, estimating the store gets about two or three new customers every day.

Let's Roll only sells pipe tobacco for use in the automated cigarette roller.

"If they make pipe tobacco the same price as cigarette tobacco, I'm out of business," Vitella said.

He said he disagrees with numerous points of the notice issued by the Michigan Department of Treasury, including statements his store is making cigarettes and selling them to customers.

"They say we're manufacturing the cigarettes, but we're renting the machine to the customer," Vitella said.

Vitella bought his machines from RYO Machine Rental LLC of Girard, Ohio.

The company, owned by Phil Accordino, sued the state of Michigan after the notices were sent to smoke shops. According to Accordino, the state is violating a federal temporary restraining order that barred the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau from regulating the machines for personal use.

Nationwide, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau reports the amount of pipe tobacco produced increased by 17.3 million pounds from 2008 to 2010, while the amount of roll-your-own cigarette tobacco produced dropped by 14.6 million pounds in that same period.

With increased popularity of pipe tobacco, thanks to the convenience of automated rolling machines, federal regulators also are looking to create tighter distinctions between pipe tobacco and roll-your-own tobacco."

May 14, 2011

Source:http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/a...sey=nav%7Chead

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