The “roll-your-own” machines at Holy Smokes in La Crosse will continue to crank out cigarettes for now, but their days likely are numbered.
The $105 billion federal transportation bill that passed Friday included an amendment reclassifying businesses with the machines as tobacco manufacturers, which would require that they obtain permits, put health warnings on packs and pay taxes on the cigarettes made.
“When it slipped in, no one even knew about it,” said Craig Squires, co-owner of La Crosse’s two Holy Smokes shops. “Shutting us down is one little paragraph.”
