NFPA Journal - March/April 2012 - (Page 9)

>> in a flash NEWS FROM NFPA + BEYOND 4dIY sMoKes The owner of a roll-your-own cigarette shop in seattle cleans one of his rolling machines. Below, stocking up on roll-your-own cigarettes in Virginia. Among the concerns of fire officials is that do-ityourself cigarettes do not use self-extinguishing paper. Fire-Safe Cigarettes 2.0 A boom in roll-your-own establishments presents a new twist for states and fire officials by fred durso, jr. “Mission accoMplished.” Those were the words proclaimed in 2010 by fire officials nationwide when Wyoming became the final state to pass legislation ensuring all cigarettes sold in the U. s. would adhere to specific fire safety standards. Those same officials now face another battle to ensure that the fire-safety intent of the law is not eroded: roll-your-own establishments that let customers make their own cigarettes, which do not use the fire safety standards required for all manufactured cigarettes sold in the U.s. customers typically purchase rolling tubes and loose cigarette or pipe tobacco, and special rolling machines do the rest. This do-it-yourself approach can cut the cost of cigarettes by more than half. in pennsylvania, for example, a carton of 200 roll-your-own cigarettes costs $25, versus $56 for a 200-cigarette carton of Marlboros. and business is booming; one merchant, RYo Machine Rental, headquartered in ohio, states on its website that its company has more than 1,000 machines in 35 states. The issue has gotten the attention of the Washington Fire chiefs association, which first heard of roll-your-own stores a few years ago. “i haven’t spoken to a single fire chief in the state who isn’t aware of them,” says Mike Brown, the association’s executive director. “historically, cigarette fires have been the leading cause of fatal U.s. home fires. We spent years urging the passage of legislation requiring selfextinguishing paper in manufactured cigarettes. Roll-your-own establishments should be under the same regulations.” according to the Tobacco Merchants association, which disseminates worldwide data from the tobacco industry, roll-yourown machines aren’t regulated in the U.s. storeowners and frugal smokers across the country have initiated a debate on the status of the establishments housing the machines. Merchants argue that the exemptions from federal and state taxes, as well as other regulations, are warranted since the businesses are technically neither selling nor manufacturing cigarettes. Many states are fighting this position, citing a disregard of the statewide fire-safe cigarette laws that were prompted by the efforts of nFpa’s Fire-safe cigarette coalition. The do-it-yourself option also avoids the taxes on conventionally manufactured and packaged cigarettes. irked by missing out on all that potential state tax revenue, legislators in Washington state introduced a bill this year, sponsored by a tobacco company, that prohibits the use of the rolling machines. Brown says his association now supports a revamped bill in the state requiring stores to offer self-extinguishing rolling paper, instead of classifying the Photographs: Top, Newscom; Richmond Times-Dispatch MARCH/APRIL 2012 NFPA JOURNAL 9

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - March/April 2012

NFPA Journal - March/april 2012
Contents
First Word
Mail Call
In a Flash
Firewatch
Perspectives
Research
Heads Up
Structural Ops
In Compliance
Buzzwords
Outreach
Electrical Safety
Wildfire Watch
Elemental Questions
Dangerous by Design
A Harder Look at Detection
Conference + Expo Preview
Membership: The Sections
What’s Hot
Looking Back

NFPA Journal - March/April 2012