"Vance McSpadden, head of the Oklahoma Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, wrote in The Oklahoman recently that tobacco compacts with some Indian tribes weren’t working as designed. Further proof for him came last week when the state and Cherokee Nation agreed on a new deal.

On one hand, this is good news for the state because it ends four years of squabbling with the tribe and because the end of cigarettes taxed at 6 cents per pack will mean more revenue from Cherokee shops. However, nontribal retailers, especially those in eastern Oklahoma, remain at a significant competitive disadvantage because they pay — and have been paying since Day One — a tax of $1.03 per pack. That’s 36 cents per pack more than the Cherokees.

It’s easy to see why McSpadden and the businesses he represents are frustrated."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Tobacco pact: Nontribal retailers feel the pinch (The Oklahoman 11/18)

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Cherokee Nation adopts new tobacco compact (11/11)
Muscogee Nation kills tobacco compact talks (9/22)
Editorial: Winners and losers in Oklahoma tobacco (08/15)
Comanche Nation signs tobacco compact (8/13)
Cherokee Nation loses tobacco arbitration ruling (6/24)
Some smokeshops still selling low-tax cigarettes (6/23)
Judge in Oklahoma reinstates tribal tobacco rule (5/16)
Cherokee Nation lifts tobacco tax for border retailers (5/14)
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State rejects lower tobacco tax for Cherokee Nation (4/21)
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