Smoking and the bandits....

[R1Geezer]

Anyone see tonights Panorama? Will you be buying bootleg any more?
Never been so glad I've never smoked!

[starone]

No didn't see it. what did it tell you?

[sandyRoe]

The fake cigarettes and rolling tobacco are a lot more carcinogenic than ordinary coffin nails.

[jackthehat]

Not much that wasn't already known..............but with the added bonus of a good idea for a thread title.

[R1Geezer]

organised crime has taken to selling fake snout. A huge amount of bootlegg stuff is now fake, made in makeshift chinese factories containing huge doses of carcinogens. One fake cigarrette was aparently the equivalent of smoking 30 in terms of poisons enhaled. Something like 60% of contraband was also counterfiet. It was finding it's way into shops but mainly sold via markets, carboot sales etc as well as your standard "bloke in the pub" type transaction. Scary stuff.

[starone]

Is it going to be easier to introduce if the packaging of real cigarettes is going to be plain with nothing but a name on them? They won't even have to do anything fancy.

[R1Geezer]

yes that will make it easier but the counterfiet packaging is obvious anyway as presumably is the "taste" of the product but smokers are in denial.

[B00]

mmmmm, fags, how i miss you :-(

[KUSTARD]

I think a lot of it was just "scaremongering" actually to make smokers pay the full price and generate lotsalolly for the Government. If they made the tax sensible then everyone would be happy! Going back years no one bothered about cheap ciggies. Maybe they'd bring 200 back from their hols and that was it. They keep on about people giving up smoking for their health but what extras taxes would they impose then to make up for the loss if there were no smokers?

[cazzz1975]

they will probably target junk food next as a good source of tax income

[cazzz1975]

whilst upping tax on alcohol

[R1Geezer]

you mean panorama is the governement is it Kustard? Right oh! What Brand of chinese snout are you on then?

[cazzz1975]

I thought there already was a tax on meat, I have had to cut back due to it being almost double the price now :/

[KUSTARD]

Having cheered me up no end now Cazz I'm going to light up and have a glass of wine whilst microwaving my pizza......then, I might commit suicide which is certainly not good for my health but TAX FREE