The language states that non-retail tobacco stores, such as convenience stores, cannot stock cigars in packs of less than four, unless the single cigar costs more than $2.50.
BOSTON – On Monday, the Massachusetts House
adopted an amendment as part of the budget bill that would prohibit the sale of
cigars in packs of less than four in non-retail tobacco stores.
Sponsored by state
Reps. Jason Lewis and Jonathan Hecht, the bill defines a retail tobacco store
as an establishment “for which a retail food permit is not required, in which
the sale of other products is incidental to the business of the establishment,”
effectively cutting out convenience stores from selling cigars in less than four-packs.
The bill would
not apply to cigars retailing for more than $2.50. “This puts c-stores at a big
disadvantage as compared to retail tobacco stores,” said Dan Mulvaney, director
of government affairs for Swedish Match, which is actively working together
with the Cigar Association of America and other cigar industry allies to strip
the amendment from the budget bill.