Smoke 'em if you got 'em! The Cartels are bringing 'em!

Originally posted by wantsome
I roll my own smokes out of pipe tobacco. It tastes like dog#$%& and it's killing me twice as quick. The filters are garbage compared to real cigarettes but its cheap.

I'm surprised to see how many young people are actually smoking. My younger cousins just got out of high school and all of their friends smoke. I thought kids today might have known better. They can't afford real cigarettes so they smoke the pipe tobacco also.

edit on 2-9-2012 by wantsome because: (no reason given)

$10 for a week's worth of pipe tobacco. $4.50 for 200 filter tubes. Funny thing is, I've been rolling them for two years, and now a regular cigarette is too strong for me.

reply to post by VaterOrlaag

Well Vater, you have an interesting position there. Personally, I'm a former smoker as I mentioned and was there to order the life support turned off for my Father after the first Chemo treatment literally burned out his mind. I don't know how else to put it...since the reaction was violent, horrible and then..nothing for days. All from a VERY aggressive lung cancer we all got exactly 11 days from diagnosis of Stage IV end phase to that final decision.

Here is the kicker though.... I hear ya on smoking being evil, and it is, as noted above. Solve by tax though? Government NEVER drops a tax and they never 'accept' revenue simply dropping out from under them. So, actually, this tax has put Government in the odd position of being against smoking while fiscally relying upon it to make budget ends meet. States are especially bad, since they can't print money like Congress.

So....How do you support Taxes as the method of doing it? If they ever succeed, they will HAVE to replace that tax revenue by taxing something you do buy or use...because they already depend too much on the mega bucks this adds?

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

and guess for who they do all the dirty work for?
Mexico. Mexico, Mexico...blah, blah, blah. Think about Mexico as a commercial point. Yes it's corrupt. But isn't most of the world that way?

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Yeah this is huge in scotland,theres a famous market in glasgow used to be counterfeit dvd's now all it seems to be is counterfeit cigarettes....they done a test and found them to have more than 600 times the lead content of normal legit ones,not to mention all the other nasty stuff they bulked it up with

Considering nowadays in britain it costs around £7 for 20 and the fakes were commonly £3ish they are everywhere

reply to post by ScottishBiker420

Oh now that is just horrible beyond words. I make great fun of the extremes our EPA now goes to to save us from lead. Even the smallest whisper of a chance of some paint DUST which may...MAY...have contained lead. Ask anyone in the U.S. doing home remodeling and doing it by the EPA lead regulations..they'll talk for hours about it.

So...I've joked many times.. to actually be hurt by the lead they flip out on, you'd need a bowl of lead based paint chips and dust and belly up for it like morning cereal. .........Or, you could smoke it. Good Lord... That's almost EVIL considering how efficient a method smoke is for getting anything ingested and just how devastating even a legitimate case of mild lead poisoning can be. I sure hope he doesn't have any hard chain smokers among his customers!

reply to post by Expat888



Lucky duck. $7.00 in pa for a pack of Djarums. Its why I quit.

States jack up cigarette taxes because of the costly burden smokers have on Medicare/Medicaid. Then many states got the bright idea of charging 'sin taxes' to pay for football or baseball stadiums.

Now some of these states want to jack cigarette taxes even higher to discourage young people from smoking. Here's why that will never work - young people smoke to look cool. Making cigarettes more expensive makes them more exclusive - thus even cooler (in the eyes of a high-schooler).

I grew up in North Carolina, among tobacco farms, worked a few summers in hothouses drying tobacco. A lot of residents of northern states would drive down to NC to buy much-cheaper smoking products, since NC doesn't charge the high taxes. Smuggling tobacco north for resale has always been around. Overseas, there's all sorts of knockoffs/counterfeits of American brands. You can even find the equipment online (won't say where) to make tax stamps and other counterfeiting paraphernalia for tobacco products. If Mexican cartels want to get in on it, they'll just be one more player in a crowded field.

Down in Miami You can get "Marlboro, Winston, Camel" for a 1.50 a pack. Fact is counterfeit cigarettes have been smuggled in for a long time. I believe they come from Russia and China. If I remember correctly ATF issue a terrorism warning on counterfeit cigs coming from China and Russia about a year ago.

reply to post by ollncasino


Ever consider the reason they're poor is because they smoke?

I've been importing my Marlboros from the Ukraine for 6 years now....$16 a carton (no tax). Let us not pretend like this is a new issue. This has been an ongoing assault on personal liberties for many years, if not decades. Yeah, I smoke a lot....It's my choice. My Dr. knows it and My insurance company knows it. I pay higher insurance premium for it and I'm cool with that; it makes sense. Beyond that, "Eff" anyone else that want's to legislate the consumption of anything I choose to interject into my person...I'm Constitutionally protected from such harassment.

Nonetheless, I acknowledge the risk I take; therefore I am responsible about it by virtue of insuring myself. It would be wonderful if we, as citizens of the greatest country on Earth, could all acknowledge our individual ills and come together to form a single system in which we are all treated fairly, unconditionally; regardless of our individual ills.

Until that day comes, I demand that my insured life be saved at risk of an uninsured fool's potential demise; regardless of circumstance. I paid, you didn't; I live, you die. Sorry, No credit no deal. Handshakes? What guarantee does that hold? Pay up front or die a slow painful death.

Me? No thanks, I'll continue to pay my premiums; as every self-respecting, red-blooded American should. It's not because I must; rather, it's because I have compassion for everyone's pocketbook.

Be a part of what makes sense; responsible, community pooled healthcare; otherwise, while you are dieing on the waiting room floor, I'm getting preferential treatment because I paid my dues. I won't feel guilty either. I paid, you didn't.

Will it not suck when an insured, cigarette smoking patient survives a heart-attack; while a 6-year-old, uninsured bee sting victim dies while, waiting their turn, because they couldn't afford what I can?

Refine ACA and make it a single-payer system. If you disagree, then pray that your insurance is better than mine. I have no mercy when it come to my life vs. another....and you can bet your ass that unrestrained healthcare provides care even less than I do. Make them care; or else....

Originally posted by irsuccubus
reply to post by Expat888

 

Lucky duck. $7.00 in pa for a pack of Djarums. Its why I quit.

lucky if you can find them stateside now ... uncle scam made them illegal ... got a nastygram from the u.s postal service when sent some to a friend ... uncle scam confiscated them so my friend never got to enjoy them ...
can get nearly anything on blackmarket here ... working on way to ship some to my friend that will hopefully arrive ...

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Haha,ahh you could only imagine mate,i know people that smoke them regular as legit ones 20 a day even,people commonly sell them from their houses or on the fly at markets...usually some oriental looking chap dressed in beige with a baseball cap and a satchel full of dvds and fags.Uusually they are just copies of the generic brands in britain but they just look wrong,tips are sometimes darker or lighter than normal legit ones,writing and ink looks off,no holes in the filter and thats before you look at the tobaco!!!!

Its like splinters and sawdust lol but has a strange watery brown shade going on not like a normal fag and smells horrid when smoked,like wood and just.......guff cant really describe it,just not good at all.

Once caught my GF with a pack in her bag that one of the aforementioned 20 a day smokers had gave her when she ran out,i crushed the remaining 19 of them up into the bin she went mad,but soon calmed down when i explained what they where made of,hey im not bashing anyone i myself smoke around 10 a day but if real cigarettes do the stuff they do i cant imagine what these fakes are doing!!!

This is a big business in certain areas,nowhere near as big as say coc aine,but in the 6 figure sum region for the big time importers and sellers,usually triad looking types but varies really depending on how far out from glasgow you are

Originally posted by VaterOrlaag
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

I support higher cigarette taxes.

Why?

Because smokers are a burden on our society, especially those who are willfully ignorant to the damage that their habit does.

They pollute, they litter and they drive up the costs of health care to treat illnesses that could have easily been prevented by I don't know, not smoking? I developed asthma from a combination of factors (growing up in a household with a smoker, breathing in dirty city air for over 10 years, etc). I have tried cigarettes but thankfully, that never caught on.

To be fair, cars pollute too and we already pay out the roof to maintain such vehicles (taxes, fees, insurance, etc).

You can go ahead and attack me if you please but I will never feel sorry for cigarette smokers that have to pay more. Suck it up or quit!

edit on 2-9-2012 by VaterOrlaag because: (no reason given)

And when that logic is applied to your vice or hobby, then what? Ah the esoteric and mysterious, but surely tremendous economic burden of smokers... yeah. Smokers pay their bills and buy insurance, just like everyone else does. I'd say more, but I've a glutimate headache and I have to relight my carpet glue stick so folks can be safe from fire. Besides, I'm more worried about the economic burden of an overtaxed and largely mindless nanny state eroding our rights and robbing us blind than I am somebody choosing to inhale what they like.

If the government wants you to screw the pooch on cigarette taxes, make them screw the pooch instead by not smoking. Ofcourse in the long run it won't matter because the governments of the world have reached the point theyre going to tax you for living, breathing, taking a dump, buying groceries, buying gasoline, heating gas, electric, farting, being sick, being healthy, being born, being dead, staying buried after death, having kids, having sex, for use of certain sexual positions, alcoholism, being poor, being in jail, being free, having a job, being unemployed, getting unemployment, busted ass broke, tax you for being white, black, hispanic, native american etc., tax you for being american or non national, taxing you for having a soul, believing in Jesus, believing in Allah or Buddha or Santa Claus or being Atheist or agnostic, tax your dogs, tax your cats, tax your dogs and cats for taking a dump and for farting, tax your dogs and cats for smoking, tax your parrot for swearing, tax you for swearing, taxing you and your pets for taking a drink of water, tax you for staring at a pretty woman's behind or a handsome man's abs, tax you for thinking about suicide, tax you for taking meds, and for God's sake taxing you while you take a piss at 2 AM on your neighbors fence.

Does anyone see how ridiculous this is getting? Well that's exactly what theyre doing.

If the cartels could supply me with real Djarums I would buy them!

Originally posted by Deezi
reply to post by ollncasino

 

Ever consider the reason they're poor is because they smoke?

Ever consider the reason they smoke is because they're poor?

The thing about sin taxes is that once the public is willing to accept them just about anything becomes a "sin". Have a little more money than the average citizen? Own a boat, RV or luxury car? Your turn will come.

It cracks me up when non smokers lecture smokers, also. I'm a long term smoker who is ready to quit and trying different methods but in all my years of smoking it was my one and only vice. I didn't drink, use drugs or even spend money on expensive hobbies. Smoking has been my one and only outlet for stress.

Everyone needs something and anything that works costs. Your outlet may be more healthy (golf, porn, whatever) but I promise you the cost of the benefit is still there.

All those billions for "healthcare" aren't being spent on it, I can tell you that. They collect enough in cig taxes alone to be able to provide health care for every person in the US - where is it?

Originally posted by VaterOrlaag

I support higher cigarette taxes.

Why?

Because smokers are a burden on our society, especially those who are willfully ignorant to the damage that their habit does.

I don't smoke, but I think you got something here...

Lets tax anyone over 10% body fat too.... "especially those who are willfully ignorant to the damage that their habit does"

Here in Aus, I could pay up to $24 for a pack of 30 smokes. The crackdown is coming here aswell and I'm sure they just upped the price again a few weeks ago.

But when you have links to the black market, I really couldn't care what they do with the ciggies.. Change the packets, up the prices, My chemical free untampered tobacco comes in a black bag and $75 for roughly a month is good enough for me.. Like to see them try and tax that..

Odd, I keep hearing (reading) about the burden smokers have on the medical costs, however, out of everyone that I've known that has had cancer and sadly died, and even the people who survived, not a single person was a smoker, never smoked once.... I don't know what to make of it, either I am too stupid to comprehend or there is something that just doesn't make sense. I am sure there are people who do suffer illness from smoking, but I know more smokers that are healthy than non smokers with failing health.

ETA: I am a smoker myself, Winston lights about a pack to two packs a day (depending on the stress level) I am fairly healthy, just not as active and with less stamina than when I was a kid.