New York smokers seek roll-your-own refuge

A new "roll-your-own" tobacco company in New York sells cigarettes for one-third of the normal price and claims its cigarettes are less harmful than those bought by the pack. Authorities say the stores are breaking the law and want them shut down.

New York is fast becoming a virtually smokeless city.

A citywide ban on smoking in public and heavy taxes at the cash register have discouraged smokers unwilling to pay between $11 and $15 (£7.00-£9.60) for a pack. Only 14% of New Yorkers now smoke, according to official statistics.

Loyal smokers, meanwhile, felt besieged, at least until May, when the first "roll-your-own" cigarette store opened.

Now, two Island Smokes stores in Manhattan and Staten Island sell loose tobacco and paper tubes to customers who use machines on site to roll their own cigarettes.         More