The Bill That Wouldn't Die - aka PACT Act

[Asquar]

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/s-1147---pact-act-of-2009-to-exclude-swedish-snus

If anyone wants to, I saw it on Twitter and signed it this morning.

I signed it, although I'm not pathetically naive enough to belive it will make any difference.

[BurningChrome]

Senator;

I am writing you regarding S. 1147, The Pact Act. The bill was introduced in the Senate on May 21, 2009, read twice, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

This bill aims to protect states revenue, prevent sales of tobacco to minors, and provide law enforcement the necessary tools to prevent cigarette trafficking. These are noble goals and essential to protecting America's youth from the harms caused by smoking. In addition, the bill aims to protect all American's by preventing terrorist groups and other criminal organization from receiving revenue from cigarette trafficking created by inconsistent tax laws. Although do not favor this approach to prevent cigarette trafficking, I understand that trafficking is a difficult problem and instead would like to address the bills inclusion of smokeless tobacco.

Specifically I would like the bill to exclude Swedish snus. Swedish snus is a form of smokeless tobacco that has been in production and use for over 200 years, like specialty cigars, currently Swedish snus is difficult to find in retail stores and often must be acquired through mail order. Many American smokers have discovered Swedish snus and have used this product to dramatically reduce cigarette use or to quit smoking altogether. Senator, I am one of those Americans. I quit a pack a day cigarette habit in favor of Swedish snus, improving my overall health and the health of my family. As I understand the PACT act, this legislation will prevent me from purchasing snus through the mail and make snus unavailable to many Americans that have quit smoking using this product.

In addition to helping smokers quit, several studies have concluded that the health risks associated with snus use are 98% lower that the associated risk of cigarettes. One example is, Systematic review of the relation between smokeless tobacco and cancer in Europe and North America, published May 2009 in BMC Medicine. You can read the study on-line using this URL: http://www.biomedcentral.com/content...-7015-7-36.pdf .

Senator, please review this information and consider an amendment to S.1147 that excludes Swedish snus from the provisions of this bill.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Richard Soard
Kern County California

Dear Mr. Soard:



Thank you for writing to me to express your opposition to the "Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act of 2009." I appreciate hearing from you and welcome the opportunity to respond.



On May 21, 2009, Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) introduced the "PACT Act" (S. 1147). This bill would amend the Jenkins Act to include smokeless tobacco as a regulated substance and impose shipping and recordkeeping requirements on sellers. The "PACT Act" would make it a federal offense for any seller of tobacco products to undertake a sale via telephone, the mail, or the Internet or fail to comply with all state tax laws. It would empower states to enforce their laws against out-of-state venders selling cigarettes within their borders, and gives state attorneys general the authority to seek injunctive relief and civil penalties against violators. The "PACT Act" would also require Internet and other sellers to verify the purchaser's age and identity and that the person accepting delivery to verify their age.



Currently, the "PACT Act" is pending in the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Please know that as a member of that Committee, I will keep your opposition in mind as I continue to review this legislation.



Again, thank you for contacting me. If you should have any further comments or questions, please feel free to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.

Sincerely yours,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

[Anthony]

Hmm... seems like there are only a few more chances for this mfer this year.

How to get a meeting canceled?

[lxskllr]

Hmm... seems like there are only a few more chances for this mfer this year.

How to get a meeting canceled?

I can think of a couple of ways, but nothing I'd print on the web ;^)

[RRK]

Senator;

I am writing you regarding S. 1147, The Pact Act.

Nice one, though I don't think Feinstein really gives a crap your letter was well written and is more then most of us have done.

Hey I signed your petition.

[NorSnuser]

A new meeting has been scheduled for November 19th at 10:00 AM and PACT is on the agenda. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how the meeting goes.

[chadizzy1]

A new meeting has been scheduled for November 19th at 10:00 AM and PACT is on the agenda. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how the meeting goes.

Where do you see this?

[NorSnuser]

http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings...-09&p=meetings

[justintempler]

November 11, 2009
NOTICE OF COMMITTEE EXECUTIVE BUSINESS MEETING
An Executive Business Meeting has been scheduled by the Committee on the Judiciary, for Thursday, November 19, 2009, at 10:00 a.m., in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 226.

By order of the Chairman

AGENDA

Senate Judiciary Committee
Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226
November 19, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.

I. Nominations
Jane Branstetter Stranch, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit

Benjamin B. Tucker, to be Deputy Director for State, Local and Tribal Affairs,
Office of Drug Control Policy

II. Bills

S. 448, Free Flow of Information Act of 2009 (Specter, Schumer, Graham, Klobuchar)
H.R. 985, Free Flow of Information Act of 2009
S.714, National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 (Webb, Graham, Leahy, Hatch, Schumer, Durbin, Cardin, Whitehouse, Franken, Specter)
S. 1624, Medical Bankruptcy Fairness Act of 2009 (Whitehouse, Franken, Feingold)
S.1147, Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act of 2009 (Kohl, Leahy, Schumer, Specter, Feinstein, Klobuchar)
S.1765, Hate Crimes Against the Homeless Statistics Act of 2009 (Cardin, Schumer, Whitehouse, Leahy)
S.1353, Dale Long Emergency Medical Service Providers Protection Act (Leahy)
S. 678 , Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2009 (Leahy, Kohl, Durbin, Specter)

Source

[PsychoHazard]

Well, looks like it's round 2 of the "Great PACT Snus Rush". :lol:

[GoVegan]

PACT Act

They are really trying to cram this in before the end of the year. I am thinking that they will rush this to a floor vote after the committee has passed it and it will be on Obama's desk in December. He will sign it and we will be screwed. If we are lucky, the same convenience store that shoved this bill down our throats will be there to sell us a can of snus, hopefully General will at least be available, for twice what we are paying now. The irony of this is that these same mini markets that are selling booze and tobacco to minors now are saying that they are the only ones who can effectively stop the sale of these products to minors. Our legislators never thought about where the majority of minors buy their smokes from now and that the odds of a 14 year old using his credit card to order a shipment of tobacco to be sent to his house via the internet is fairly remote. I know this because when I was younger, mini markets and gas stations were the places to buy smokes and I still see kids buying smokes at these kinds of stores today. I also know that if if I would have had a shipment of tobacco sent to my house when I was a kid, my parents would have probably gotten the mail first and that would have been the end of it. This Act has nothing to do with keeping kids safe. It's all about money and lobbyists and money talks! Perhaps what we need instead is a Federal Moron Card. It would work like this. If you have one of these cards you cannot buy anything bad for you, it is illegal. If you don't have one of these cards and are an adult, you can buy and consume whatever you want to in a responsible manner. Sorry for the rant but I was screwed by our government as a smoker and now they are screwing me for trying to stop!

[chadizzy1]

Well, looks like it's round 2 of the "Great PACT Snus Rush". :lol:

I bet Northerner, BuySnus, etc....are making bank off this right now, then it won't pass or it'll die and they'll have a big lull of nobody ordering anything for like a year.

[sagedil]

I still will be ordering

Unless folks are buying a 20 year supply of snus, I don't get it. If the worst comes out of this, and don't think it will. But if it does, what good does ordering like 3 months of snus really do. Three months from now, you are just where you started. Seems really silly to me, but what do I know.

[GoVegan]

PCT Act

Well, looks like it's round 2 of the "Great PACT Snus Rush". :lol:

I bet Northerner, BuySnus, etc....are making bank off this right now, then it won't pass or it'll die and they'll have a big lull of nobody ordering anything for like a year.

If it does pass it may be we all have to go back to Camel snus or nothing at all! Nordic Ice will seem like a treat if we can find it and we will all need to triple barrel our $7.00 a can snus to get a decent nicotine buzz.
LOL

[JPono]

I still will be ordering

Unless folks are buying a 20 year supply of snus, I don't get it. If the worst comes out of this, and don't think it will. But if it does, what good does ordering like 3 months of snus really do. Three months from now, you are just where you started. Seems really silly to me, but what do I know.

I agree. I do think this bill--in some form--will eventually pass unfortunately. They're doing it not for snus, but for cigarette sales. Snus just comes along with the package, unlucky for us.

The end result (hopefully) will be that Swedish snus is more readily available in the US. I don't know about anyone else, but I'd love a larger selection from my local store than just the General line.