Campaign to stop contraband tobacco criticized in Windsor
'Who's going to call on one person who's buying a pack or a carton?' asks store owner
A few variety store owners in Windsor say a new anti-contraband campaign is not going to work.
The National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco in partnership with Crime Stoppers launched a new campaign earlier this week.
The new public awareness campaign includes a multi-medium advertising initiative, outreach to potential purchasers of contraband and information delivered to areas of Ontario with high incidences of contraband. It will continue through November.
William Afaris owns Half-Price Variety on Drouillard Road. He doubts the new campaign will help much.
"I don't think it's going to work because who's going to call on one person who's buying a pack or a carton? I don't even think the courts and the police want to bother with a person who buys a pack or a carton. It's just too much too much work."
The campaign mostly focuses on southwestern Ontario where the coalition says the incidence of illegal tobacco is higher.
"People can make a difference in their neighbourhoods and we really need their assistance," former Metro Police Staff Supt. Gary Grant, Chair of Toronto Crime Stoppers, said in a media release. "This is getting out of control."
Grant said that in July, about 42 per cent of cigarettes purchased in Ontario were contraband. The average over the year is at 33 per cent.
"That percentage is simply unacceptable," Grant said.
Afaris says it's up to the government, not police, to do something about this.
"I just don't see this as an effective method to go by. The best method in, my opinion, is reduce the taxes on the legal cigarette so it becomes a little more competitive with the contraband," he said. "That's the only way we can fight it."