Buffalo, New York - wants to impose a fee to be applied to each tobacco product sold by a retailer..

November 28, 2010 - Just a few days ago we reported that tobacco control people are on the verge of adopting some of the toughest rules in the nation governing the advertising of tobacco products.

Directly related news briefs:
November 19, 2010 - Buffalo, New York - moving ahead with plans to regulate the sale and advertisement of tobacco products..

June 30, 2010 - Buffalo, New York - considering the toughest tobacco control progam in nation...

Now we find that Buffalo leaders are considering a proposed $1,000 fee to be imposed on retailers who want to sell tobacco in stores in the city. That fee would apply to each product line it markets.

City Council member Demone Smith made the proposal, saying he wants tobacco companies to pay the fee because the signs, legal and otherwise, are everywhere and people in communities all over Western New York are offended. "We're trying to put in the deli store license, that you can't have these (signs) going on," Smith said, according to a WBEN Radio report. The fee would go toward hiring more inspectors to ensure the rules are being followed.

Jim Calvin of the New York State Association of Convenience Stores calls the rule unreasonable. "There are all sorts of regulations on the marketing and regulation of tobacco in Washington, Albany and Buffalo," he told the radio station. "Our stores comply with all the types of regulations. This type of regulation goes far beyond any of those and far beyond what we'd call reasonable."

Reference: Buffaloed by Tobacco Fee City mulls $1,000 per product, CSP Daily News, 11/22/2010.