The present study examined the extent to which Marlboro Lights smokers perceive lower health risks associated with using a low tar cigarette and the extent to which they are aware of filter vents in their cigarettes. The data for this study came from a nationally representative random digit dialed telephone survey of 1,046 adult current cigarette smokers (aged 18 years or older) conducted between May and September 2001. Respondents were asked about the brand and type of cigarettes smoked, beliefs about the health benefits associated with low tar and filtered cigarettes, and awareness of ventilation holes in the filters of their cigarettes. Marlboro Lights was the most popular brand, smoked by 19% of survey respondents. Only 32% of Marlboro Lights smokers reported that the filters on their cigarettes were ventilated. Many Marlboro Lights smokers believed incorrectly that lower tar, light, and ultra light cigarettes were less harmful compared with higher tar, full flavored cigarettes. For example, only 11% of Marlboro Lights smokers knew that the tar delivery of a light cigarette was about the same as that of a full flavored cigarette. The responses of Marlboro Lights smokers to questions about the hazards of low tar cigarettes were similar to those expressed by smokers of other cigarette brands. The data presented in this paper reveal that smokers of the leading light cigarette brand sold in the United States today, Marlboro Lights, are for the most part unaware of filter vents in the cigarettes they smoke and are misinformed about the health risk of using low tar and filtered cigarettes.

Men indicted for 2.3m packs of fake marlboros – abc news

E smoking 101: electronic cigarette reviews and beginner guide

By Susanna Kim
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Apr 12, 2013 1 48pm

(Image credit Daniel Acker/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Three men were indicted this week for shipping millions of packs of untaxed contraband Marlboro cigarettes that were part of a sting conducted by the FBI.

Jia Yongming, Yazhou Wu, and Ricky Le were indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Monday in a U.S. District Court in New Jersey. They are charged with conspiracy to transport contraband cigarettes and trafficking in goods bearing counterfeit marks.

Thomas Dunn, an attorney for Yongmin, had no comment. An attorney for Wu and Le could not be reached for comment.

Read more How to Spot Fake Luxury Goods

Last July, the U.S. Attorney’s Office arrested the three California residents in Los Angeles and charged them with conspiring to ship and distribute more than 4,600 cases of Marlboro and Marlboro Light cigarettes.

Like many other states, California requires a stamp to be placed on packs of cigarettes to show the state tax has been paid. California had a $0.87 tax on each pack of cigarettes while the illegal operation had been underway for over a year.

The cigarettes were shipped from China to ports in Newark, N.J., and New York City. From warehouses, they were headed for their final destination, California, where they were delivered by undercover FBI agents, as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer. The agents were paid about $225,000 in commissions for delivering five loads of cigarettes.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the state of California lost more than $2 million in taxes from this conspiracy.

David Sutton, a spokesman for Altria, which owns the Marlboro brand, said this had the “classic elements” of a counterfeiting cigarette case.

“In this case, it shows you that this kind of activity is invariably driven by higher and higher excise taxes,” Sutton said.

This case began two months after the last Federal excise tax increase on cigarettes to 62 cents per pack in April 2009.

In the president’s budget this week, there is a proposal to raise the Federal tax again by 94 cents to $1.95 a pack. If passed, Sutton said it “will definitely create a significant incentive for additional counterfeit cigarette smuggling.”

Sutton said Altria supported this investigation.

“The counterfeit product almost always comes from China,” Sutton said. “You see it in L.A., south Florida, the port of Newark because of the New York City market. The criminals are sophisticated in counterfeit cigarette trafficking.”

Sutton said counterfeiters rely on organized crime units to distribute the products.

“You see counterfeit trafficking in dense urban centers, like New York and Chicago, because you have established criminal organizations in place for distribution of the product,” he said.

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