In a recent “Notice to Cigarette Distributors Selling in New Mexico,” the New Mexico Attorney General announced that “effective immediately” all distributors must stop selling any product marked as a “small” or “little” cigar unless the product listed is in the state cigarette directory. Since no little cigars are currently listed in the Attorney General’s directory, the notice is an immediate, de facto ban on the product. The notice also purports to require that all little cigars must bear state excise stamps in the same manner as cigarettes.

In the recent election, Missouri voters narrowly defeated (by a margin of 50.8% to 49.2%) a ballot initiative that would have raised state excise taxes on all tobacco products, would have regulated cigarette rolling machines and would have increased the amount of money that nonparticipating manufacturers are required to place into escrow accounts.