Family and friends have suddenly found themselves blocked from shipping cigarettes and other tobacco products to American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq because of a new law meant to hamper smuggling and underage sales through the mail.
The Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act of 2009 quietly took effect June 29. It cut off those care packages by effectively requiring that tobacco be sent with one particular kind of U.S. Postal Service shipping that requires a signature for delivery but does not deliver to most overseas military addresses.
April Woods, the 26-year-old wife of a Fort Campbell soldier in Afghanistan, used to regularly send him packages of snacks, drink mixes, pictures and cartons of his favorite variety of Marlboros.
"I would hope that they would change it. It's just ridiculous that they take so much away from our soldiers," Woods said.
Woods said her husband, Sgt. Randall Woods, doesn't have easy access to the stores on some Afghanistan bases that sell cigarettes and he also doesn't keep a lot of cash on him while deployed.
"So the only way he has to get cigarettes is through family members," she said.
Woods said every friend of hers with a spouse who smokes is very upset over the restrictions.
The law was created to prevent minors from ordering cigarettes through the mail and to prevent trafficking by requiring tracking and confirmation that the recipient is old enough. It allows small shipments of tobacco products, but only via Express Mail because that's the only postal service product that meets the identification requirements under the law.
By: Brant
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