Several smoke shops on the Seneca Nation of New York have shut down their mail-order operations as a result of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act.

The PACT Act went into effect yesterday. It bars the U.S. Postal Service from transporting certain types of cigarette products.

"We were a small operation. Most of our sales were mail order, but you can't do it anymore," Reggie Crouse, 73, who shut down his Red Nation Tobacco shop, told The Buffalo News. "I decided to shut down before the government goes around and shuts people down."

The tribe has said the law will cost as many as 3,000 jobs. The smoke shops employ Indians and non-Indians have an economic impact beyond the reservation.

"I hope the law gets struck down," Joyce Waterman Cruz, 65, told the paper. "One of my daughters works in a smokeshop, and she needs that job. It's the only job she's had for eight years."

Aaron J. Pierce, the owner of Seneca Smokeshop and Red Earth, has obtained a temporary injunction against enforcement of the PACT Act. He says the law will cripple his business by forcing him to address thousands of state and local tax issues

Get the Story:
Mail-order cigarette shops close (The Buffalo News 6/30)
Seneca Cigarette Seller Skirts PACT Act (CS News 6/29)

Relevant Documents:
ATF Letter on Tribal Consultation (May 19, 2010)

Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act.
H.R.1676 | S.1147

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Obama signs cigarette trafficking bill over tribal objections (4/1)
Seneca Nation asks Obama to veto cigarette mailing bill (03/19)
Cigarette trafficking bill sent to White House for review (3/18)
Editorial: PACT Act puts a halt to Internet tobacco sales (3/17)
White House weighs stance on cigarette trafficking bill (3/16)
Seneca Nation blasts passage of cigarette trafficking bill (3/15)
Lance Morgan: PACT Act a hidden power grab for states (3/12)
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New York governor proposes tobacco tax regulations (02/24)
Seneca Nation targets Sen. Gillibrand for tobacco bill (01/25)
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