Contraband Cigarettes a Serious Concern
So-called “smoke shacks” may have their detractors, but there’s no denying their popularity. During one afternoon last week, QMI Agency monitored a 7/11 store on Christina St. in Sarnia for one hour and saw two packs of cheap Sobranie cigarettes sold. During another one-hour period the same day, 56 vehicles drove up to a smoke shop on Indian Rd., a roadside trailer advertising food, drinks, and “$2 Royals.”
It’s possible all those motorists drove to Hwy. 40 to buy soft drinks. But probably not.
Jacqueline Bradley, executive director of the National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco, said the more than 300 smoke shacks selling cheap tobacco in Ontario and Quebec represent a significant cash loss to convenience store retailers.
What also concerns Bradley is the lack of controls in place to protect children.
“I was under this false sense of security that my kids had no access to cigarettes,” she said. “Kids have access to contraband tobacco all the time.”
And when no health regulations or standards apply, Bradley said there is no way to know what’s in those cigarettes.
“We’ve identified more than once there’s mould and human feces (in contraband cigarettes),” she said. “If there are regulations in place in this country, they need to be across the board for everybody who is producing a cigarette. And they aren’t.”
But a lot of factors surround the issue that make politicians reluctant to crack down.
“They’re afraid to stir the pot,” Bradley said. “It’s a political hotbed.”
Some of the political difficulties arise in First Nations communities, many of whom see selling the tobacco as a legitimate source of income that creates jobs on reserves.
The operator of the Indian Rd. smoke shop declined to comment Monday, and calls to the chief of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation were not returned.
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