US
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and other health agencies sent a joint letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pushing for a tough stance on combating black market tobacco.
The joint letter was sent in response to an FDA call for comments on a draft paper titled “Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products After Implementation of an FDA Product Standard.”
In the letter, AAFP said that the illicit cigarette market does not ultimately dampen tobacco company profits, stating, “Most of the cigarettes bearing the tax stamps of low-tax states, such as Virginia, that are bootlegged for sale in high-tax states, such as New York, are manufactured by the major tobacco companies.