['|', '|', 'MICHAEL', 'R.', 'SPANIOLO', '.', 'ATTORNEY', 'AND', 'COUNSELOR', 'AT', 'LAW', '3033', 'WAVERLY', 'WivLS', 'ROAD', 'LANSING,', 'MICHIGAN', '40317', 'PHONK', '117', '3722323', 'Open', 'Letter', 'And', 'Statement', 'To', 'The', "Citizen's", 'Pamel', 'On', '&', 'Health', 'October', '8,', '1980', '10', 'A.M.', 'g-¥-8°', 'Michigan', 'Department', 'of', 'Health', '/', 'Lansing,', 'Michigan', 'FROM', '.', '4', 'Michael', 'R.', 'Spaniolo', '<', 'General', 'Counsel:', 'Michigan', 'Tobacco', 'Industry', 'Advisory', 'Council', 'Tobacco', 'Institute', 'Tobaceo', 'Tax', 'Council', 'The', "Citizen's", 'Panel', 'on', 'Smoking', '&', 'Health,', 'guided', 'by', 'the', 'Michigan', 'Department', 'of', 'Public', 'Health,', 'is', 'recommending', 'that', 'the', 'cigarette', 'tax', 'be', 'raised', 'by', '$50', 'million', 'to', 'discourage', 'smoking', 'and', 'to', 'earmark', '512', 'million', 'for', 'smoking-health', 'activities.', 'Senator', 'Edward', 'Kennedy', 'on', 'the', 'Floor', 'of', 'the', 'Senate', 'of', 'the', 'United', 'States,', 'November', '3,', '1978', 'stated:', '.', 'Even', 'worse', 'than', 'the', 'smuggling', 'itself', 'is', 'the', 'violence', 'that', 'accompanies', 'the', 'activity', 'truck', 'hi-jacking,', 'armed', 'robberies,', 'serious', 'agsaults,', 'extor-', 'tion,', 'murder,', 'and', 'corruption', 'of', 'public', 'officials.', 'The', 'effects', 'of', 'this', 'activity', 'doés', 'not', 'stop', 'there,', 'The', 'indirect', 'result', 'of', 'cigarette', 'bootlegging', 'is', 'the', 'loss', 'of', 'jobs', 'and', 'businesses', 'of', 'those', 'legiti-', 'J', 'mate', 'wholesalers,', 'vendors,', 'and', 'sales', 'people.', 'In', 'the', 'past', '10', 'years,', '50', 'percent', 'of', 'the', 'employees', 'of', 'wholesalers', 'and', 'vendors', 'have', 'lost', 'their', 'jobs,', 'and', '3;5.', 'percent', 'of', 'the', 'wholesalers', 'have', 'gone', 'out', 'of', 'business', 'because', 'of', 'this,', '“Cigarette', 'bootlegging,', 'as', 'it', 'is', 'commonly', 'referred', 'to,', 'has', 'become', 'not', 'only', 'a', 'serious', 'problem', 'for', 'the', 'many', 'states', 'which', 'rely', 'on', 'cigarette', 'taxes', 'for', 'needed', 'revenue,', 'but', 'also', 'has', 'become', 'a', 'major', 'revenue', 'source', 'for', 'organized', 'crime', 'groups.', 'It', 'has', 'been', 'estimated', 'that', 'the', 'states', 'are', 'losing', 'over', '$400', 'million', '&', 'year', 'because', 'of', 'this', 'activity,', 'and', 'that', 'is', 'a', 'very', 'conservative', 'estimate.', 'The', 'only', 'ones', 'profiting', 'from', 'this', 'activiry', 'are', 'the', 'major', 'organized', 'crime', 'families', 'which', 'control', 'between', '40', 'to', '50', 'percent', 'of', 'the', 'activity,', 'Cigarette', 'bootlegging', 'is', 'now', 'ranked', 'as', 'the', 'sixth', 'major', 'revenue', 'source', 'for', 'organized', 'crime', 'with', 'a', 'gross', 'of', '$1.5', 'billion', 'a', 'year', 'and', 'profits', 'estimated', 'at', '$800', 'million.', '680551241', '|', 'J', 'i']