New Yorkers Accused for Illegal Tobacco Sales

Five men from New York City face charges in Shenandoah County linking them to an alleged scheme to sell thousands of packs of untaxed cigarettes, according to authorities. Maj. Scott Proctor of the Shenandoah County Sheriff's Office identified the five men arrested Aug. 5 as Jose Daniel Utate-Hidalgo, 38; Jose Edwin Guzman, 38; John Taveras, 40; Vidal Rodriquez, 39; and Jose Peralta, 44. Proctor said Shenandoah County sheriff's deputies seized at least three vehicles and more than 15,000 packs of cigarettes as evidence at the arrest scene.

Massachusetts Prohibits Tobacco Sales at Drug Stores

This tourist-dependent Massachusetts town has banned the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in drug stores. The prohibition was voted unanimously by the board of health, effective Sept. 1, or two months before Halloween, when visitors flock here for the annual celebration tied to the 17th century Salem witch trials. Dr. Barbara Poremba, head of the board, said the ban applies to chain pharmacies such as CVS, Walgreens and Walmart as well as locally-owned drug stores. She said banning tobacco sales at pharmacies makes sense when you consider they are key to a community's health care delivery system. "We weren't looking to be punitive," she said.