As it should be ...

12 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

As it should be ...

I am surprised that all the tobacco shops have been burned down. Lucky me, I gave up years ago.

A good reason to move to Thailand - a pack of 20 "local" cigarettes start at about A$3.25 per pack, about 6% of the cost in Australia.

4 minutes ago, JimHuaHin said:

A good reason to move to Thailand - a pack of 20 "local" cigarettes start at about A$3.25 per pack, about 6% of the cost in Australia.

And the medical cost is ????????

I quit smoking when I wax 18. 3 packs a day. Got up hungover one Sunday and started to cough up black stuff. But what made me stop was the cost. Pay money to a company that's actively trying to kill me? Nope. Better spent on beer and weed.

Edited May 20May 20 by gargamon

As is often the case the government doesn't seem to be dealing with this with enough dollars.

If keeping taxes high - then have a huge enforcement team to stop the black market e.g. have plain clothes customers to identify the many shops that sell them - then shut them down for months at a time if found to be selling the dodgy product.

Or concede it's all too hard and lower taxes which may raise the actual tax take if people are willing to go back to the approved product.

The government has taxed the product so much that people have turned to the black market. Now, criminals profit, instead of the government collecting taxes.

It was only a matter of time before alcohol went the same way.

Article published just yesterday.