Groups also hope to see legislation addressing the health care worker shortage and medical cannabis.
tobacco
Dairy task force recommends boosting subsidy to preserve Maine farms
A draft report calls for additional taxes on gambling, cannabis or cigarettes to help stabilize funding for the subsidy program that protects Maine’s struggling dairy farms.
Wicked good: How ‘sin taxes’ are contributing to Maine’s healthy budget outlook
Revenue from levies on alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and gambling have risen sharply in the last five years, and now account for $353 million a year – 7% of the state’s $5.1 billion annual budget.
Senate moves to exempt sole store targeted by bill to ban tobacco sales near schools
A Senate version of a bill to ban tobacco sales within 300 feet of a school would allow existing, licensed stores to keep tobacco sales.
Maine bill limiting tobacco sales would impact just 1 store
The House approved a bill Tuesday that would ban the sale of tobacco products within 300 feet of schools. But it would impact only 1 store in the state – and it’s in Portland’s West End.
Walmart to end cigarette sales in some stores
Walmart will no longer sell cigarettes in some of its stores though tobacco sales can be a significant revenue generator
BIW union asks for smoking areas in shipyard after ‘increased fires’
Bath Iron Works’ current zero-tobacco policy forces employees to leave company property to smoke.
Maine group pushes ban on flavored tobacco products
A coalition of health and social justice advocates says many of the flavored and metholated products are designed to appeal to children, especially in communities of color.
Bill to add tobacco tax to vaping products moves forward
The bill calls for an additional tax on all electronic cigarettes and other vaping products, at a rate similar to cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Circle K fights to keep its cigarette sales lit
Cigarettes aren’t extinguished yet, and one of America’s biggest convenience-store chains wants to squeeze what it can from that shrinking market. Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., the Canadian owner of Circle K stores, launched a “Tobacco Club” earlier this year in the U.S. that offers discounts on Marlboro packs and other products to more than 4 million […]