"Justice Minister Anne McLellan announced Tuesday the government is taking R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc., RJR-Macdonald Canada, the Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers Council and several related companies to court in the U.S. The charges are fraud and racketeering. ... McLellan said the evidence now exists to prove that in 1991 the big tobacco companies established an "elaborate network of smugglers and shell companies." Their aim, she said, was to "undermine" Canada's policy to reduce tobacco use by increasing the price of cigarettes." I don't remember anyone actually buying cigarettes in the stores around that time. People just went to the bars and waited for the guys with the hockey bags full of butts selling for 3$ /pack (they were 7.50$ at the dépanneurs.)