(The Atlantic Convenience Stores Association speaks about contraband cigarettes)
(Photo By Sherry Aske)
The Atlantic Convenience Stores Association says the problem of contraband cigarettes is steamrolling itself across Atlantic Canada.
A new study that looked at the level of contraband cigarettes in 43 Atlantic Canada locations showed that the amount of illegal cigarettes is close to 20%.
Association President Mike Hammoud says they hope to bring that number down to 10% so that the illegal market cannot exist.
The study included four Saint John locations, and Hammoud says he was quite pleased that two local high schools had relatively low contraband rates.
St. Malachy's High came in with 14% of illegal cigarettes, and Saint John High only had 6.1%.
