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HAVANA — A program that provided state-subsidized smokes to Cuban seniors is headed for the ash heap.
The communist government announced Wednesday that it is cutting cigarettes from its monthly ration books effective Sept. 1.
Cubans 55 and older had been eligible to receive three packs of “strong” cigarettes and a pack of milds — 80 cigarettes altogether per month — for about 30 cents.
Until the 1990s, all Cubans 18 and older received a monthly allotment of cigarettes, but the loss of subsidies from the collapsed Soviet Union forced the scaling back of subsidized smoking.
