Senate Aims To Snuff Out Gray Market Smokes

The State Senate is moving to put some discount businesses out of business. The operations selling so-called gray market cigarettes are being targeted. Gray market cigarettes are those made for export to other countries, where they are sold more cheaply than cigarettes are sold here. The prices are low enough that some companies bring those cigarettes back to this country to sell them at discounted prices. Senator Harold Caskey of Butler is a co-sponsor of the legislation. He says the marketing being practiced is unfair. Critics claim it’s an effort to put legal operations out of business.