More nannying -- the US Postal Service

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The US Postal Service, or the boss of the Postmaster General, has now determined that you can't mail your cigs -- how do you now get them to your brother-in-law in prison I don't know. Least I can tell, tobacco products are still legal:


Cigarette & Smokeless Tobacco Mailings

What: Beginning on June 29, 2010, the United States Postal Service cannot accept or transmit any package that it knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, contains nonmailable smokeless tobacco or cigarettes. Cigarettes and smokeless tobacco shipments are banned from the mail if they do not fit in one of the following exceptions:

* Alaska/Hawaii: Shipments entirely within Alaska or Hawaii;
* Business/Regulatory Purposes: Shipments transmitted between verified and authorized tobacco industry businesses for business purposes, or between such businesses and federal or state agencies for regulatory purposes;
* Certain Individuals: Infrequent, lightweight shipments mailed by age verified adult individuals; and
* Consumer Testing/Public Health: Shipments of cigarettes sent by verified and authorized manufacturers to verified adult smokers age 21 and over for consumer testing purposes, and shipments sent by federal agencies to consumers for public health purposes.


When: A final rule to implement these changes was published in the Federal Register on May 27, 2010. The final rule comes into effect on June 29, 2010.

Why: These new rules result from the enactment of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act, which was signed by the President on March 31, 2010. The Act provides that cigarettes and smokeless tobacco will become nonmailable matter effective June 29, 2010.

Details: Key elements of the final rule include:

* Cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are nonmailable, unless an exception applies.
* All excepted shipments of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco must be presented in face-to-face transactions with postal employees.
* Carrier Pickup™ and Pickup On Demand® Service are not permitted for excepted shipments.
* If you are creating a postage label using Click-N-Ship® or Shipping Assistant®, please bring your package to a post office (excluding any contract retail unit).
* All excepted shipments of cigarettes must bear a unique marking on the address side of the package. Each exception has its own marking.
* With the exception of shipments entirely within Alaska and Hawaii, and to APO/FPO/DPO addresses, all excepted shipments of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco must be sent via Express Mail® Hold for Pickup.
* For shipments from the United States to APO/FPO/DPO addresses, check the Postal Bulletin for tobacco restrictions, which apply to certain ZIP Codes, and confirm with postal personnel that Express Mail® and Priority Mail® with Delivery Confirmation is available to the destination.
* When permitted, shipments of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to APO/FPO/DPO addresses customers must use Express Mail Military Service (EMMS) "Express Mail®" or Priority Mail® with Delivery Confirmation; Express Mail® Hold for Pickup service is not available.
* Other than shipments entirely within Alaska or Hawaii, absolutely no sales transactions of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco may be sent by mail.
* Business/government customers sending shipments under the "business/regulatory" and "consumer testing/public health" exceptions must first apply for and receive an eligibility letter from the Pricing & Classification Service Center (PCSC) prior to mailing. This letter must be presented each time an excepted mailing is presented to USPS personnel at acceptance.
* Excepted shipments sent by business/government customers under the "business/regulatory" and "consumer testing/public health" exceptions must bear a return receipt (PS Form 3811) returnable to the PCSC PACT Mailing Office.
* Delivery of cigarettes mailed under the "consumer testing/public health" exception is restricted to the addressee, who must be at least 21 years of age.
* Individuals sending shipments under the "certain individuals" exception must furnish proof of age at the time of mailing and must orally confirm that the addressee is of age to purchase tobacco at the place of destination. In the case of all mailings by individuals, the operative legal age to purchase tobacco is age 18 in all states and U.S. territories and possessions, with the exception that the minimum age is 19 in the states of Alaska, Alabama, New Jersey, and Utah, and in Nassau, Onondaga, and Suffolk counties in New York.
* Shipments sent under the "certain individuals" exception must be infrequent (no more than 10 shipments in any 30 day period) and weigh 10 ounces or less; however, no special weight limits apply to shipments entirely within Alaska and Hawaii.
* Cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are prohibited in both inbound and outbound international mail.
* Note: these rules do not apply to cigars, which continue to be mailable matter.


Maybe it's the boss's wife, who the heck knows.
 
Interesting that such a heavy smoker as the Presedent is, he would have signed such a document. However, I have to agree with parts of it. If I was a crooked man, I would travel to KY (not a long trip for me) where smokes are cheap (realitivily) and aren't taxed completely rediculously as they are in other states, then I would be making all kinds of money in bulk shipments of smokes to, well lets see....where are smokes overly taxed?......NY, well all of the north east:rolleyes:, TX, MI, ect. International would be big market, I know smokers easily go broke up in Canada.:p

I suppose gangs are funded by these types of operations. After all, Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances.
 
No, but three of those are illegal to posses in any case.

This is all about states being able to collect their taxes rather than nanny-ism. There is already a large underground business of smuggling cigarettes from low tax states to high tax states via truck, so this is just an extension of those already-existing laws, Expect that there will also soon be mechanisms for states to force collection of sales taxes from all sorts of e-commerce as well.
 
Smokeless tobacco is chew, a plug, or snuff. In the olden days snuff was very finely ground cured dried tobacco leaves of the highest quality, the 'new leaves' of the plant. It was sniffed like cocaine is today. However the modern term of snuff is like chew except finely ground and you stick it in your lip. Skoal or Coppenhagen (or cough-n-gaggin as I always referred to it)

It is also a not so healthy habbit. Fill your mouth full of chew or Skoal and then kiss your girl.....I bet it won't go over so savy.......he he.....:yuck:

:D

Oh yeah, it is very true that if you are sitting on a lake fishing and the bugs and mosquitoes are pestering you, just light up a big fat stinky dog turd cigar and they will leave you alone. Tobacco is an irritant to not only people and other animals around you but also to insects.;)
 
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simple solution, just use FedEx...
they never ask what youre shipping :p
in fact, alot of shipping services for packages is done by FedEx FOR the USPS...


You must be referring to the airmail contracts... My experience is a bit different referring to "Smart Post" which is anything but.. Fedex uses the USPS to deliver packages to the recipient. They truck in bulk to specific USPS facilities across the country and the USPS takes care of the final delivery to the customer. Very slightly cheaper than Fedex ground, this is the slowest and most circuitous form of shipping that Fedex offers and the problem is not with the USPS. They do offer tracking on these shipments and I got to watch my package travel from Fedex facility to Fedex facility all over the country - no rhythm or reason I could determine .. :eek: Took 3 weeks to deliver a package that I could have had in days if that vendor had offered Fedex ground service. I will never buy from that company again and I will never ever use that shipping option.. There's lots of negative press about this service, and IMLE it's justified.. :D
 
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There is already a large underground business of smuggling cigarettes from low tax states to high tax states via truck...
There has been for as long as I can remember. Also vans and the trunks of cars. Not super high profit, but low risk. NC to NY was a major route.

Expect that there will also soon be mechanisms for states to force collection of sales taxes from all sorts of e-commerce as well.

North Carolina has already tried that. For awhile (10-12 years ago) they hit us with an out of state e-commerce tax on the income tax form. If you didn't want to pay it, you had to prove you didn't buy anything out of state. :xeye: Did not see that on last year's form.
 
In Australia the tax on tobacco is so high (one pack of 20 cigs goes for $14 - $18), many farmers have taken to circumventing the system entirely and selling illegally to retail outlets. The product is known as 'chop chop' and is available under the counter at many shops stocking tobacco products.

Glad I gave up :)
 
Exactly. Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances there is. Banning it only creates more contraband....gang fuel, violence, ect. Like any drug, education is the best weapon. The problem is in the nanny social state the world is becoming, people are not responsible for their own choices anymore. Why should it be my responsibility or problem if someone chooses to smoke their whole life and gets sick? It says on every pack of smokes that it is going to make you sick. How much more codling do we need for people? Decisions have consequences, at least they are suppose to.
 
I stopped smoking cigs in October 2008 and I do not think I ever even felt any kind of physical withdrawal symptoms at all. I did feel like killing a few people almost every day though. It was not easy but I think the only addiction I had was having something to do with my hands IE a mental addiction. I smoked a lot for almost 30 years too. Everybody who gives them up has to find their own way that works for them but for me I used the Kojack method. I bought hundreds of suckers to replace the cigs in my hands and mouth. I tried it a few other ways before that but fell off the wagon really fast.

I must admit that I LOVE second hand smoke though. I not only allow but encourage everybody I know to smoke as much as they want in my house or in my truck.
 
It is a proven fact that nicotine has an effect on brain development. People who are under the age at when their brain is fully developed, early 20's, it is shown that the brain develops around the presence of nicotine. This is why someone who uses tobacco in their teenage years never really loses the craving of nicotine throughout their life and it is very difficult for them to quit. If you begin the use of tobacco after this age, it is much easier to give it up. My opinion, like alcohol, tobacco should be banned for use under the age of 21 at least. In the US, there was significant pressure to not advertise to teenagers and to prevent sale to them. This is a good start in policy, but like with any drug, education is the key. I will admit on ocasions when I am ready to start killing people for their supidity I will sometime engage in a smoke, but I am not a habitual smoker. It does have a calming effect and helps with road rage, but does not have the impairment of alchohol. I sometimes buy a pack of smokes, smoke one or two and give the rest away before they become stale. I only wish they would sell packs of two cigarettes. That would be perfect. Then I would not have to spend the money on a whole damn pack of 20! But try to get that by the marketing dept. of cigarette companies.:rolleyes:
 
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I don't know where you live (Lousiana or Los Angeles) but in most areas in the not so good parts of town mostly but also some in the good parts of town the little stores sell single cigs. They call them looseys. But if you can live without them then why smoke any at all?

You do have to be a certain age to buy cigs. In Texas anyway but I think everywhere else too. I am not sure what the age is but before I quit I was carded buying them a few times. I think that the age for drinking, voting and buying cigs should be the same. I don't really know how they could work that out or what the age should be but the age for draft registration should also be the same. If you are an adult you should be able to do all the adult things you want to.

I was about 20 (maybe late 19) when I started smoking. Maybe it would have been harder to stop if I had started as a little kid (at 20 I was for sure a kid). I smoked a lot though. Between 1 and 3 packs a day depending on how long I was awake. So let me see it would have been sometime in 1983 I started and October 2008 when I quit so thats 25 years. I still think the physical addiction to nicotine is a bunch of **. There may be some but it is so little you can't notice it. At least I didn't. It is still very hard to quit but not because of a physical addiction. People can die from alcohol or heroin withdrawals. THAT is a physical addiction.
 
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Here's a new one at the US Postal Service -- I was sending 2 parcels out of the US via first class mail -- a couple printed circuit boards and some matched MOSFETs -- the Customs form data must be manually entered by the postal clerk into their system. Our fellow, with whom I discuss college football at every opportunity had to ask "What kind of transistors" -- to which I responded "silicon". "What kind of printed circuit board" -- "green, with holes". Note that if you use priority mail they don't ask any questions.

The nanny state lives.
 
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