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Senecas to review 'potential problems' with cheap cigarette By Tom Precious News Albany Bureau ALBANY -- The Seneca Nation said today it will review "potential problems" of one brand of Native American-manufactured cigarette that has become one of the biggest selling tobacco products in the state. Seneca President Barry E. Snyder Sr. said an article in Sunday's Buffalo News about the Seneca brand cigarettes "is a matter of grave concern" to the Seneca Nation. He cautioned that the Seneca Nation has no role whatsoever with the cigarette brand, which is owned by Arthur Montour, a former Seneca Tribal Council member. The cigarettes are produced on an Indian tribe reservation in Ontario. Snyder said the Senecas will start an immediate review "of the allegations involving the brand and its potential problems and gather that information as quickly as possible." He said the Tribal Council and the Import-Export Commission -- which regulates tobacco products on the Seneca reservations -- will be consulted to determine "further action."
The Buffalo News reported on the growing business of Indian-made cigarettes, and featured the Seneca brand, which has surged in sales in the past couple years both in New York and around the country. Its cheap prices -- as low as $13 a carton on some Indian retail Web sites -- is a third or below the amount charged by many premium brands. The Seneca brand, like some other Indian-made cigarettes, does not appear to meet New York's fire-safe standards that are part of a 2004 law to cut down on the number of smoking-related fires. It does not appear on the state's approved list of fire-safe cigarettes. Officials in California also say their fire-safe laws are being violated by the brand. In addition, scientists at Roswell Park Cancer Institute say they have found higher-than-usual levels of two chemical elements -- strontium and barium -- in some of the Indian cigarettes, including the Seneca brand. They could not say if the levels pose a risk higher than smoking itself, and said further testing was needed to determine if the elements are radioactive. "The Seneca Nation is committed to doing what is right for our people, businesses and customers. Therefore, we also plan to reach out to national health experts at Roswell Park Cancer Institute to understand more fully the challenges this situation poses to our people and their independent retail outlets," Snyder said in the written statement. Snyder said there are two Seneca Nation-owned retail outlets that sell cigarettes on the reservations, and another 238 independent retailers that also are registered to sell tobacco products. As a result, he said, "there is a need for broad consultation and consensus." Montour did not return repeated calls for comment for the Sunday story. A message to his office this afternoon was not immediately returned.
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