Ohio bills smokers buying cigarettes online

COLUMBUS -- Ohio is hoping to recover more than $2 million by going after smokers who bought cheap cigarettes online.

The state is sending out 5,500 bills to folks who've bought their smokes from web sites hoping to avoid paying taxes.

Ohio law requires cigarettes to be purchased face-to-face. Technically, that makes the web sales illegal.

Internet sites are cutting into sales at discount tobacco stores. Owners did warn customers this was coming.

Federal law makes vendors who sell cigarettes from state to state report those sales. That's where the state got information for this crackdown.