VARANASI: Unaccounted raw material and undeclared godowns, apart from huge stock of cigarettes worth crores, were unearthed by sleuths of Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence, New Delhi, reportedly, at a manufacturing unit of a cigarette company in Shivpur locality, here on Monday. The DGCEI sleuths simultaneously raided the manufacturing units, offices and other establishments of this company in 10 cities across the country. The D ... Jump to full article >>

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. — Walk into any store to see what current cigarette smokers live with every day — sticker shock. Partly because of rising taxes, one pack of cigarettes can now cost more than $7. But now, one Northwest company seems to have found a way around some of the highest taxes simply by changing the way they sell tobacco. At D-I-Y Tobacco, the goal is to have customers do it all themselves. The Port Orchard, Wash., compan ... Jump to full article >>

The cigarette industry is facing a novel new claim for compensation over its 1990s smuggling spree, which has already led to heavy civil and criminal penalties against four tobacco companies. Farmers have filed $150-million in class-action lawsuits, alleging that the firms paid them the lower, export price for tobacco that was initially sent to the United States, but then smuggled back — tax-free — for the Canadian market. They say they sho ... Jump to full article >>

SACRAMENTO — Health care advocates are imploring Republican lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to rethink their opposition to taxes, especially in light of recent poll findings that show Republican voters overwhelmingly in support of increasing tobacco taxes to help solve the state’s $26.3 billion deficit. Support for a tobacco tax increase of $1.50 per pack cuts across party lines, according to a survey done by a bipartisan pollin ... Jump to full article >>