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Filed Under:Craig Dellimore, Politics, tobacco
Tanya Triche, general counsel for the Illinois Retailers Merchants Association.(Credit: Craig Dellimore)

CHICAGO (CBS) — Some aldermen and retailers say they are working hard to block Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposals to raise the legal smoking age to 21 and raise taxes on tobacco products other than cigarettes, reports WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore.

Alderman Susan Sadlowski Garza says she’s fighting Mayor Emanuel’s ordinance because making tobacco products more expensive and harder to get is hurting businesses in the 10th Ward near the Indiana border.

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“The people that live in my ward can walk across the street and shop in another state where the taxes are much lower,” she said. “I have one gas station in my ward because they can’t even keep up with the taxes that are being imposed on them. I have vacant storefronts.”

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Tanye Triche of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association accuses the mayor of attacking small businesses that sell tobacco products.

“We need to really re-think the policy that we have around tobacco,” Triche said. “I’d like to tell you that it’s a shortsighted policy that’s produced long-term pain.”

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The measure stalled in the City Council committee this month.