New Yorkers who smoke now pay the highest tax in the country:  $2.75 per pack of cigarettes.  Some New Yorkers are switching to Roll your Own cigarettes, others are looking to Native American stores, the Internet and bootleggers…

Source:  Newsday

"New Yorkers start paying the highest cigarette taxes in the nation Tuesday with the latest $1.25 spike per pack that officials expect to bring in $265 million a year.
"Convenience stores in New York and the smokers who will be pay the price are angry about the change, but health officials hail the tax increase as a success. Officials said cigarette taxes will raise a total of $1.3 billion for the state budget in fiscal year 2008-2009, including the new tax…

"Smokers will be paying $2.75 per pack in state taxes. The average price of a pack of cigarettes is currently $5.82 statewide, and about $8 a pack in New York City, Daines said.

"Audrey Silk, who heads NYC Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment said it’s ridiculous to expect smokers to quit just because the price is climbing. She switched to rolling her own cigarettes since the last New York City tax increase and suggests other smokers will find similar ways to satisfy nicotine cravings.

"’No product has a tax at this rate on it,’ Silk said. "If there was, there would be screaming, but since we’ve been beaten into submission and nobody listens to us, what else is there to do? It’s unjustifiable and you turn to alternatives, and any consumer group would do the same.’"

"Convenience stores, which historically count on cigarette sales, have also objected to the tax, saying it will drive smokers _ and dollars _ elsewhere.
"’The tax increase is only going to feed that epidemic,’ said Jim Calvin, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores. ‘More and more smokers in New York state are going to abandon our stores that have to charge the tax and shift their purchases to places that don’t charge the tax, most notably Native American stores, the Internet and bootleggers.."

Should all tobacco ads be banned?

That’s what the World Health Organization is pushing.  According to BrandWeek:

"The World Health Organization is urging governments to prohibit all tobacco advertising, including sponsorships and promotions.
"The group, based in Switzerland, claims that tobacco companies target their marketing at young people by ‘falsely associating use of tobacco products with qualities such as glamour, energy and sex appeal.’
"’In order to survive, the tobacco industry needs to replace those who quit or die with new young consumers,’ WHO’s director Margaret Chan, said in a statement. ‘It does this by creating a complex ‘tobacco marketing net’ that ensnares millions of young people worldwide, with potentially devastating health consequences.’

"Several countries have banned tobacco advertising like Norway, Canada and Finland. Studies have found moderate decreases in smoking as a result of those bans.
"A study appearing in the American Journal of Public Health in 2004 found that ". . . partial bans result in industry resources being shifted to the remaining venues, and thus partial bans have been found to be far less effective than comprehensive bans in reducing tobacco consumption."
"’Half measures are not enough,’ Douglas Bettcher, director of WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative, said in a statement.
Ad spending for tobacco in the U.S. last year was $96.7 million, down 1.8% from 2006, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus."

Should tobacco and cigarette advertising be banned, even though the decreases of doing so are only "moderate"?

Is it right to mandate to business owners who sell tobacco, cigarettes and smoking related products that they can sell their legal products, but it’s illegal to tell anyone about them?

Tell us what you think in a comment below.

If you’ve ever thought about owning your own business, check out these websites:

Best franchise opportunities, Top New Franchises, Franchise Opportunities and issues, Franchise complaints, franchise marketing, franchisee marketing and 7 Valleys Custom Blends franchise.

Source: Courier Journal

WASHINGTON — A bill giving the federal Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco products appears headed for House passage.

By a vote of 38-12 yesterday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the landmark legislation — the first time any House panel has voted for such a measure.

Eleven Republicans joined the committee’s Democrats in voting for the measure. Five of those lawmakers, including Rep. Baron Hill, D-9th District, Indiana, were from tobacco-producing districts.

With 220 co-sponsors from both parties and others who are now behind the bill, the legislation’s prospects are bright in the House.

A similar measure, with 56 co-sponsors, is awaiting action by the Senate.

Under the measure, the FDA would be empowered to require larger health warnings on cigarette packs, control tobacco company advertising and marketing, and order full disclosure of contents of tobacco products.

User fees imposed on tobacco companies would pay for the FDA’s regulation of the industry.

The legislation specifically bars the FDA from regulating tobacco farmers and does not allow the agency to ban tobacco.

The Bush administration, through FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach, has raised concerns that federal regulation of tobacco will be misinterpreted by the public as an endorsement of its use.

Parts of the proposed legislation would be difficult to implement, and Congress may not provide the agency with enough resources to do the job, according to Eschenbach.

White House spokesman Blair Jones said yesterday that the administration “believes tobacco is not a drug or device to be regulated by FDA,” adding that such authority is “inconsistent with FDA’s mission.”

However, an array of public health groups, religious organizations, unions, educational institutions and the AARP back the bill. The nation’s largest tobacco company, Philip Morris USA, and UST Inc., the largest maker of smokeless tobacco products, also support the measure.

The House committee’s action came as opposition ended from other groups — such as convenience store operators and some small tobacco companies, including the Louisville-based National Tobacco Co. — after lawmakers agreed to make changes in the bill.

“Regulating tobacco is the single most important thing we can do right now to curb the deadly toll of tobacco,” said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chief sponsor of the bill. “And FDA is the right agency to do this job.”

But opponents said tobacco regulation will put additional burdens on the FDA, which they contended already is struggling to ensure the safety of food and drugs.

“This legislation, if it becomes law, would require the FDA to take on a task that’s enormous, complex and completely outside of its regulatory experience,” said Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the committee’s ranking Republican.

Hill voted for the measure after the committee agreed to add language to the bill protecting domestic growers by barring foreign tobacco that does not meet federal chemical standards for American tobacco.

“This bill now strikes a careful balance between protecting the public and protecting the economic viability of tobacco growers,” said Hill, who is not one of the bill’s co-sponsors.

The lone Kentucky lawmaker on the panel, Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-1st District, voted against the bill, though he said he supported combating tobacco use.

“The FDA’s mission is to protect public health by assuring the safety and efficacy of our nation’s food and drugs — and tobacco is neither a food nor a drug,” Whitfield said in a statement. “Tobacco is a legal product that some people choose to use despite knowing the risks associated with it.”

Meanwhile, Rep. John Yarmuth, D-3rd District, said his concerns about the legislation were addressed when the panel agreed to give smaller tobacco companies up to four years to comply with some provisions and to join together to pay for testing products that may be required by the FDA.

Ron Tully, National Tobacco’s vice president of corporate affairs, said that without the changes the bill would threaten the survival of his firm and others of similar size.

National Tobacco has 300 employees — 200 of them in Louisville. The company makes cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and so-called “roll-your-own” products.

Rep. Michael Burgess, a Texas Republican who is an obstetrician, opposed the bill but offered an amendment that would have permitted a ban on tobacco or required the elimination of nicotine from tobacco products.

“This is an alternative to the scourge” of tobacco, he said. His amendment was defeated.

Waxman and other lawmakers said banning tobacco would backfire: it would fail to stop smoking and create a black market for cigarettes.

We’ve hit the big time, being featured in the Wall Street Journal.  Check out the whole franchise story on how we’re one of the companies making running a franchise easier than ever.

The franchising world is letting loose. Gone are the days of one owner being chained behind the counter of a single store day in, day out. Today, there are absentee owners who oversee their operations from laptops and Treos, and owners who maintain dual careers or run multiple franchises…

Even costs are more flexible, with investments ranging from as low as $10,000 to more than $1 million, according to the International Franchise Association. That frees up owners to spread their talents around by opening multiple franchises, either of the same brand or even in different industries — a departure from the days when the rule of thumb for franchising was “one person, one store,” says Ann Dugan, author of “Franchising 101″ and assistant dean at the University of Pittsburgh business school.

In large part, technology has helped fuel the shift, making it easier for franchisers to replicate and spread their systems, as well as for franchise owners to keep track of their businesses wherever they are.

An unstable economy has also made the franchise model look more appealing with its entrenched systems and sales history; between 2003 and 2005, about 900 new franchising concepts were launched in such diverse fields as real estate, art education, construction and health care. Today there are an estimated 760,000 U.S. franchised establishments generating more than $1.5 trillion in economic activity and producing one out of every seven jobs, according to the franchise association….

Likewise, Mark Tucci, 46, leads by example for his newly franchised company, Custom Blends Franchise Services, a seller of roll-your-own tobacco supplies based in York, Pa. Mr. Tucci lives in Hilton Head, S.C., where he keeps track of sales at his own store in York, often via his Treo 700w smartphone, and allows his two franchisees to also oversee their businesses from home. He says franchisers that require owners to be physically present in their stores “don’t put enough faith” in their owners’ abilities. “It assumes the franchisee doesn’t know how to remotely manage or hire effective managers who can manage in their place,” Mr. Tucci says.

In part, the attitude shift is born out of necessity, as franchisers look to attract the best business talent in a digital age where working remotely is an accepted job perk, both among baby boomers who may be looking to slow down, and among younger workers who demand more work-life flexibility.

 Contact us for information about owning your own 7 Valleys Custom Blends franchise!

 

[THANKS TO THE YORK DAILY RECORD FOR THIS FEATURE STORY ON 7 VALLEYS CUSTOM BLENDS, WHICH APPEARED ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE SUNDAY BUSINESS SECTION]

A smoking success  Local tobacco seller on a roll

Link to article

TERESA McMINN
For the Daily Record/Sunday News,  York Daily Record/Sunday NewsArticle Launched:07/08/2007 01:29:11 AM EDT

At bottom: · The proposed smoking ban · Custom Blends

Jul 8, 2007 — If you don’t smoke, don’t start. If you do smoke, smoke smart.

The motto might seem a bit strange coming from a businessman who makes his living selling cigarette products.

But Mark Tucci and his wife of 26 years, Frances, built a successful and growing company on the simple message.

York Township-based Custom Blends offers a variety of cigarette products, including 50 blends of tobacco from Ecuador, Brazil, California, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Tucci started the business about 14 years ago.

“I used to be in the Army in Germany . . . I saw a lot of people rolling their own,” Mark Tucci said.

The hand-rolled cigarettes were cheaper and a better quality, he said.

“I just thought it was so interesting - how there was such a big market in Europe but no market in the U.S.,” he said.

And although the habit of smoking has come under fire with the state Senate’s recent approval of a wide-ranging smoking ban, Custom Blends continues to thrive. In fact, the Tuccis, who live in Hilton Head, S.C., have franchised the company.

The first new business opened in Camp Hill in August. Another franchise is set to open in Shrewsbury in about six months.

They hope more will follow.

“We’re just really taking off nationwide,” Mark Tucci said. “We couldn’t have succeeded without the people in York. . . . York is a great town.”

Mark and his wife monitor the business from South Carolina using the latest in technology. Mark’s brother, Chris Tucci, of Dover Township, works as the information technologist for the company.

“Mark can sit anywhere in the country . . . and see everything,” Chris Tucci said of using cameras, computers and high speed Internet.

Custom Blends has customers from around the world who order products from the company’s Web site. Diane Tucci fills Web and phone orders.

Mark Tucci said his customers appreciate the natural products the company sells.

“We don’t use reconstituted tobacco,” he said. “Tobacco is a natural product. We thought that customers would appreciate a natural tobacco.”

The company also sells natural cigarettes, he said.

“They burn for so much longer,” he said of hand-rolled and natural cigarettes. There are chemicals in some manufactured cigarettes that aren’t permitted in a landfill, he said.

“People are just so much more satisfied. . . . Our products help people cut down on smoking. . . . That’s really a good thing.”

Customers who were in the Queen Street store on Tuesday said they prefer chemical-free cigarettes over manufactured ones.

“You can taste a difference. I don’t think I’d ever go back,” Hopewell Township resident Karen Testani said.

“Since I started making my own, I don’t cough,” Red Lion resident Wera Buccheri said. “I used to sound like a frog.”

Mark Tucci, who smokes two to three cigarettes a day, said he and his family are living the American dream.

“We started this company with a $5,000 credit card,” he said. “It really started and fulfilled itself in York County.”

Hank Mills of York Township is the district manager for Custom Blends.

“I started rolling my own cigarettes about 17 years ago simply because of the cost,” he said.

Then he heard a radio ad for Custom Blends, became a customer 13 years ago, and worked on and off for the business, he said.

“Mark made me an offer to invest in the company. . . . I knew the potential was there for the company to grow,” Mills said. “Now, we are legal in all 50 states and most of Canada.”

 

Custom Blends

Custom Blends offers a wide variety of make-your-own cigarette supplies, chemical-free tobacco and cigarettes, bulk natural tobacco, filter tubes, rolling papers and more.

Custom Blends’ main location is on Queen Street in York Township. That business is owned by Mark Tucci and his wife, Frances.

Mark and Frances Tucci, Hank Mills and another couple are shareholders of Custom Blends Franchising Services, LLC.

Franchises of the company have opened in Camp Hill and Gettysburg, another is planned to open in Shrewsbury.

For more information, call 800-788-4367 or visit http://www.customblends.com.

The Wall Street Journal is featuring progressive franchise companies - including 7 Valleys Custom Blends - that use technology to enable their franchise owners to manage their stores remotely. This interview with a Hollywood Tans franchise owner is a great example of the kind of tech tools our franchisees use:
CLICK HERE FOR THE WSJ VIDEO: How Hollywood Tans Uses Technology to Manage Remotely

What is probably just as insidious as Big Tobacco advertising to kids is the current crop of pro-smoking weasels out there encouraging people to START smoking!

There is a smoking lobby discussion forum on the web (I won’t mention their name because they are truly disgusting and foul people) who actually use the following phrase in their emails:

“If you don’t smoke….START!” 

Mmm …a forum that, for it’s own selfish reason to exist, encourages people to pick up a habit. VERY CLASSY! It’s a shame that an issue that involves basically a freedom of choice brings out scum like this. With all the angles and mis-information out there here we have a forum that encourages people to start smoking as opposed to simply serving as a forum for discussion. Do these people reproduce? I certainly hope not.

Here at 7 Valleys Custom Blends we say:

“If you don’t smoke don’t start. If you do smoke, smoke smart!”

We are tobacconists and we have a soul. We don’t encourage people to start smoking, but if people choose to use tobacco, we certainly want them to choose our tobacco. At least you know what you’re getting.

There will always be people who choose to use tobacco. Anti smoking groups who twist scientific data to suit their views are just as vile as pro-smoking groups who twist freedom to suit theirs.

7 Valleys Custom Blends promotes freedom to choose. If you choose not to use, good for you. If you choose to use, choose Custom Blends.

Mark

I was trolling on the web the other day and spotted this shining example of the kind of “Research” anti-tobacco zealots are using to push their social agenda:

This is so funny really because nobody smokes a cigarette like this. Any smoker knows this especially a 12 year old who just started. But I also did a search on YouTube or as I call it “The modern day equivalent to Col Tom Parker and every other thief of African American Music in the 50’s” (thanks to REALLY listening to the Simpsons) and there were many entries that glamorize smoking, cigarettes, even the cough associated with Big Tobaccos products. Some people just Love tobacco! It can be hypnotic, and peaceful and mesmerizing. It’s a choice.

Another funny thing was the comments. On the Anti-Tobacco videos there was a lot of “They should all die now” type comments directed at smokers. Considering 20% of the US population smokes, if I had an Anti-Tobacco zealot in my family…I would watch my back!

We at 7 Valleys Custom Blends like choice. The ability for people to choose to smoke or not. We don’t understand the unconstitutional bans on smoking in privately owned enterprises. The customers as well as the employees have a right to choose to spend their money or make their money any way they deem fit as long as it’s legal. I thought that’s what the country was built on. Let the marketplace handle it. That’s America.

But the Antis have an agenda, and they are sworn to their mission. A mission that they cynically know will never happen. But Big Tobacco (like the Nuclear Industry in the 60’s) promoted their product while not being honest with it. Big Tobacco had proof that smoking their nicotine sticks was bad for your health. Yet there they were pushing cigarettes as the coolest thing since the Tootsie Roll, and even aimed their marketing to the same audience. Though despicable as it was, and we’re glad they don’t do it anymore (they claim), the Antis have taken old school retailing and punished them for it. But using “Science” like this is not helping harm reduction.

The best place to catch kids is with science, at school, that is real, makes sense, and is truthful. Kids can smell a lie from adults a mile away (especially when gift giving is involved). We need good programs that include a certain amount of peer pressure and the money is there thanks to the Master Settlement Agreement. Oh wait…the Tobacco Taxes have been used to close the State Budget gaps so the gutless politicians don’t have to raise taxes. Well at least Anti-Tobacco Zealots are cheap. Dime a Dozen. Let them do the research. In my opinion, they got their money’s worth (look at the video). Hey…and the Governor has a plane! And a whole damn fleet of SUV’s.

Another better choice that smokers and non-smokers can put a hurt to Big Tobacco for their past transgressions is this; PETITION WAL MART TO TAKE BIG TOBACCO’S PRODUCTS OUT OF ALL WAL MART STORES WORLDWIDE. This would be the ultimate meeting between the good old American philosophy of freedom to choose (at of course a retailer’s obligatory financial considerations not to mention the biggest outlet for Big Tobacco’s product) and the Anti’s alleged mandate from the non-smoking public to rid the planet of tobacco.

Another choice is to choose to Make Your Own Cigarettes with Custom Blends Farm Fresh Tobacco http://www.CUSTOMBLENDS.com . You avoid the chemicals that Big Tobacco pushes, and since you make the cigarette yourself, not only do you save up to 80%, but you know what you’re smoking. And it takes less than 5 minutes to make a whole pack when you get good at it! And they have filters and look just like a regular cigarette so you won’t get the “Hairy Eyeball” in the Lunch Room.

There are ways to keep kids from smoking. But using a Bozo with a plastic bottle in an Airhood (because of the instant death perception of second hand smoke Antis have brainwashed the media with) is not the way to do it. He’s afraid of the 4000 chemicals in Tobacco. I wonder if he’s worried about the estimated 65,000 chemicals man has invented that could be in the air he breathes on his bike ride home? I just assume he rides a bike. Heaven forbid he drives a diesel SUV! The Horrors of it would be unfathomable! Maybe he wears a respirator when he goes outside?

Being a smoker doesn’t mean you’re evil. And private property owners shouldn’t be told what to do with their businesses by the government…pure and simple.

Mark

PS If second hand smoke is so bad why do my pets live to be Methusala in human years?

I highly suggest that anyone interested in tobacco subscribe to the following newsletter:

http://www.smokersclubmedia.com/

This newsletter from The Smoker’s Club is the best collection of news about the extremists on both sides of the issue. I used to put in dozens of hours searching the web for what’s going on. Now I wait for this newsletter then look into it further.

Check their site out here:

http://www.smokersclub.com/home.html

This is a fantastic site with some outstanding information. Spend hours there!

Mark