We must get the United States Postal Service (USPS) out of the tobacco delivery business..

June 25, 2008 -Cigarettes and smokeless tobacco today are legal and mailable products in the United States. According to an American Journal of Public Health study, almost 20 percent of the tobacco sales websites do not say anything about prohibiting sales to minors, more than half require only that the buyer indicate they are of legal age, and another 15 percent of online tobacco vendors require only that the buyer type in their date of birth. Washington, April 29, 2008 - The House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia voted today to send Congressman John M. McHugh’s (R-NY) “Do Not Mail Tobacco Bill” to the full Oversight and Government Reform Committee for further consideration. The legislation, H.R. 5912, would outlaw the shipping of cigarettes and other tobacco products using the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). McHugh Legislation Designed to Stop USPS Mail Delivery of Cigarettes Advances To express interest in getting H.R. Bill 5912 passed call Stephanie Nigro 202-225-4611 in Congressman John McHugh's offfice.

April 24, 2008 - Mary Anne Gibbons, U.S. Postal Service Senior Vice President, General Counsel statement. Priority Mail, which is often used for shipping tobacco, is sealed against inspection. Therefore a federal search warrant or consent would be needed to open these packages. Unless the mailer voluntarily discloses that a package contains nonmailable matter, generally the only way to determine whether it contains unlawful contents is to open the package. We are aware that proposed legislation would make tobacco nonmailable. If Congress is to pursue this path, we recommend that nonmailability language be included in Title 18, which contains the criminal law statutes, of the US Code, rather than civil penalties proposed under Title 39. Before the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Other bills: At a joint news conference (March 2006) with New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) announced his bill that would prohibit mailing cigarettes through the USPS, impose fines of at least $1,000 per offense and jail time for repeat offenders.; In August 2006 U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced legislation to help crack down on illegal sales of tobacco to children by banning the shipment of cigarettes and other tobacco products through the U.S. mail. Related news brief: Protect Our Children - Make it illegal to use the U.S. Postal Service to deliver any form of tobacco product.. Click on image to enlarge.. (TobaccoWatch.org)