WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?

Описание: In Canada, premium cigars are regulated and taxed under the same framework designed for mass produced cigarettes, despite fundamental differences in product design, use patterns, and risk profiles. This policy approach treats unlike products as if they were identical, which undermines evidence based regulation and weakens public trust.

Premium cigars are handmade from whole leaf tobacco, contain no filters, no additives, and are typically consumed infrequently. Multiple population level studies, including U.S. National Health Interview Survey analyses, show that exclusive premium cigar use is statistically rare and not associated with the same usage frequency or dependence patterns observed with cigarettes. Yet Canadian regulation does not distinguish between these categories.

Excise duties, plain packaging mandates, and escalating cost recovery fees apply uniformly, regardless of scale or risk. These measures were justified using research derived primarily from cigarette consumption, inhalation behavior, and daily use. Premium cigars were not independently studied before being captured by these rules.

The result is a regulatory mismatch. Small specialty retailers face disproportionate compliance costs. Legal adult consumers face reduced access and choice. Government revenue increases, but without evidence that these measures meaningfully reduce youth uptake or improve public health outcomes for this category.

Effective regulation requires proportionality. Canadian law routinely distinguishes between products based on risk, function, and use, including alcohol classifications, pharmaceutical scheduling, and food labeling thresholds. Tobacco policy should be no different.

Evidence based governance does not mean less regulation. It means better regulation. When policy relies on assumptions rather than product specific data, it stops protecting public health and starts eroding credibility.

A modern regulatory framework should recognize distinctions, commission category specific research, and align taxation and packaging rules with actual risk. Treating all tobacco the same may be simple, but simplicity is not the same as accuracy.

Assumption is not evidence.