Cigarette Police???

I found this on Drudge. I'm not a smoker, but where will the line be dawn? How much more are we as citizens going to take with the blatant invasion of privacy? Saddens me...

Ummm... Duh Here's the link

www.knoxnews.com...

Its tough one for sure. But......

The state inacted a tax and importing an excessive amount of ciggarets violates the law. We are talking about anything over 2 cartons. The same applies to alcohol if Im not mistaken but I could be wrong.

At anyrate these people are attempting to evade a tax that the voters enacted. Its no different thatn smuggling tequila across the border.

You're right. I just don't believe that police forces should be used for something so "trivial" IMO. People enabling authorities with these kinds of tasks just seems so.....submissive. It seems minor, yes, but it just seems so micromanaging. I don't know. I have insomnia, so I'm not very articulate.

I particularly liked this part...

Rep. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, said he sees inconsistency in the enforcement program.

“This administration has been very willing to turn a blind eye to illegal aliens pouring into our state, yet, when a natural Tennessean brings a couple of cartons of smokes across the state line, they want to arrest them,” Campfield said.

and...

He and Johnson both said the program appears to involve the state in interstate commerce, an area where the federal government is granted sole authority by the U.S. Constitution. Johnson said he hopes an arrested motorist will file a lawsuit against the program, and further predicted the state would lose.

* emphasis mine

Stakeouts across state lines? Shouldn't that be under the jurisdiction of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, a US Gov't. agency.

Originally posted by FredT
At anyrate these people are attempting to evade a tax that the voters enacted.

The voters or the politicians?

www.timesfreepress.com...
NASHVILLE -- The House passed a 42 cent per pack increase

While the tax itself will remain in effect, I think its only a matter of time before someone challenges the legality of this surveillance program.

 

reply to post by 12m8keall2c


must have missed that part. In California the voters passes thse kind of ballot measures.

It may very well become a federal issue

At the federal level, PM USA continues to support enactment of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (the “PACT Act”), which passed the Senate in 2004 during the 108th Congress, and which includes a series of reforms to the Jenkins Act, the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act (CCTA) and the Imported Cigarette Compliance Act (ICCA). Some of the reforms included are:
link

and

KOHL, HATCH INTRODUCE BILL TO HALT CONTRABAND CIGARETTE TRAFFICKING LINKED TO TERRORIST FUNDING


[edit: fixed long link skewing page]

[edit on 28-9-2007 by 12m8keall2c]

These are all old but it seems its a major federal issue. you may want to deal with it at a state level and not run the risks of a federal charge.

States hunt down online cigarette buyers
www.stateline.org...