Indian cigarettes near me  on the shelves at the SavOn convenience store near the state Thruway in Canastota and at the Oneida Nation’s Turning Stone resort and casino aren’t the national brands of Marlboro or Camel. These are Native-made smokes, and they sell well at the two shops and elsewhere on the Oneida and Onondaga reservations. For the tribes, tobacco manufacturing is one of several business ventures; the profits fund programs like college scholarships and a health clinic.

New York governors have long vowed to end cigarette tax evasion by Indians, but they have generally shied away from enforcing state law against reservation sales. The smuggling trade has reached a pinnacle in the state, with one in three cigarettes sold here channeled untaxed through Indian smoke shops, depriving the state and New York City of nearly $1 billion in revenue.

Cuomo has recast the issue, winning a court ruling that allows him to demand tax payments from wholesalers who supply national-brand cigarettes for sale on reservations. The tribes have responded by buying fewer Marlboros and Kools, and stocking their own, native-made brands.

Legalities and Regulations Surrounding Native Cigarettes Sales in Canada

Sales of the indigenous smokes have skyrocketed, and the state and local revenues will rise. But the move has also created a new market for name-brand cigarettes, and it isn’t clear whether those loyal smokers will buy them at non-Indian outlets. A state tax department spokesman and the executive director of the New York Association of Convenience Stores said sales have been up at stores near Oneida and Cayuga retail locations, but they wouldn’t disclose figures.