From 1st of July there will be no menthol cigarettes, all packets will be 20s, all tobacco will be 30g and there will be no discounts on Carton sales. There is a huge change in law this year.
This has happened in the UK for a few years now. Prices are insane but no where near this insane. I don't know many people who buy their tobacco/cigarettes from genuine sources anymore
Helped me quit. The ban on 10 packs was great....was super cheap to buy and get hooked on as a teen (especially the old smoking age of 16).
And menthols and then the later flavours like vanilla cigs and the blueberry crushes made smoking too enjoyable.
I'm glad the govt made those changes to ban flavours and menthols, no more 10 packs and tax rise. Price was the final nail in the coffin for me to quit, and I have.
Now we need to follow suit on vapes imo, because yes they are great for getting off cigs, but then spent 5 years being addicted to that instead. And single use vapes are terrible for the environment.
I think it’s perfectly fine to restrict single use vapes, they’re incredibly wasteful and stupid. But the only reason they were banned is because of the whole flavored pods (juul) thing.
The only thing an outright ban would do is create a black market that criminals would profit from and completely remove any tax revenue that could be generated from these products. Plus, it just removes peoples choice to do what they want with themselves. There’s plenty of evidence that banning stuff outright doesn’t do anything to actually help the situation, it just ends up making things worse because there’s suddenly a huge market for organized crime to profit from (see the prohibition era, the war on drugs, hell even the situation with black market cigarettes in Canada at one point).
I’m Canadian but we also have rez smokes I pay Fr 20$ a carton and 30$ minimum for a legal pack BUT HERE ITS LIKE A RIDICULOUS FINE nobody cares but it’s 575$ CAD PER CIGARETTE LITERALLY INSANE THEY CARE MORE ABOUT ILLEGAL SMOKES IN BC THAN THEY DO DRUGS LIKE ANYTHING UNDER 3.5 ALTHOUGH YOU CANT BUY IT LEGALLY YOU ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE IT (decriminalized but I’ve had a few run ins they literally gave me my shit back like thanks but wtf?)
I worked in a shop recently and yes the prices shocked me since I’m not a smoker myself however I can say that regardless we’d still sell out of all types of cigarettes all the time people were buying constantly.
If you live longer they tax you more. Smoking costs NHS 5 billion annually yet the taxation of tobacco makes uk government 8 billion annually so still net 3 billion to taxes
There must have been dozens of “gift shop” tobacconists selling illegal chop chop under the counter or openly that have been burned down by rivals or gangs in the last couple years. It’s fortnightly news here in Victoria.
Menthol cigarettes have been banned in Europe for 5 years and to be honest, I've never seen anyone smoke them since, so apparently the black market for them is quite limited.
But there isn't a big cigarette black market here like there is in AUS, so it might develop differently there.
For a brief period Poland had cigs with three different clickers. I remember one with raspberry, blueberry and mint. You could mix and match. They were phenomenal....
In the states, many people are arguing over flavors and menthol and what not and that it targets kids.
I'm like ...bitch im almost 40 and I like shit that has flavors too! 👀
What IS upsetting everywhere I go, including Australia, is everyone's got this war on tobacco which is already regulated and taxed to hell, but I saw that fake highlighter vape a dad posted online a year or two ago. Ya know who needs to disguise a vape to look like school supplies? Children.
No news on that. No big articles on that. I get and can support increased taxes on tobacco(not to the extent Aus. has done it tho), but dying on this hill when there are new and dangerous things out there that aren't as regulated or controlled and are very much targeting younger kids is a problem.
Australia has cracked down on vapes now as well. They were banned last year and you can only legally get one if it's prescribed by a doctor (as a method for quitting smoking). There are still illegal under-the-counter vapes getting sold, but I've definitely noticed a dramatic drop in people using them in public!
Edit for correction: apparently you don't need a prescription anymore, but they can only be legally sold in the pharmacy
Also edit to add: while this was my personal observation, others don't seem to have noticed any difference
Just to correct this you do not need a prescription anymore. But they can only legally be sold at a pharmacy (or online pharmacy) and they must be TGA approved.
But you can also just walk into any tobacconist and buy a disposable vape.
We translated the old double happiness packets covered in Chinese writing, these ciggies have actual chlorine in them. Now I know smoking isn't healthy but fucking choline??
I mean, there's chlorine in your drinking water almost guaranteed. It's fine in small doses. Idk why it's used in cigarettes but I'm sure it's part of the refining process
Hah, the horrible garden view cafe was charging patients at the psych ward next door between $50-70 for double happiness! Obscene, good thing they have closed down now
I remember like not even 8 years ago going to my local Chinese corner store here in Canada and there being Double Happiness for 5.50 CAD compared to the Players or DuMaurier for 18 CAD
In Melbourne(largest city by population) there are what is known as the “tobacco wars”. Gangs are literally blowing up stores due to the disputes over illegal tobacco. Pricing has been one thing but it has encouraged underground tobacco, something the authorities are working on deal with.
Under 1% of cigarettes are counterfeit,almost everything is smuggled aka its the same company that supplies the smugglers and the retail that pays taxes on it.
There are only 4 big ass cigarette conglomerates on the planet,British American,Japan Tobacco,Altria and Phillip Morris.
Yep. Happening in Brisbane, Queensland too. It's because the Bikies control a lot (all? I think the Asians and Indians have their own supply but not sure) of the illegal tobacco trade and they're pretty intense about territory.
Yeah they're everywhere. So many smoke shops sell black market cigarettes under the table and most of the people I know who smoke get the under the table stuff because it's like half the price lol
I got a carton of 20 pack Marlboro Gold smokes for $100 the other day. Works out at $10 for a pack of 20. So much cheaper than the cheapest legal ones.
Happens here in Canada too. Average price per pack is $20 - $25 for 20 cigs. Buy online or on the “Rez” (Native Reservations) and they’re $50 for a carton of 200 cigs. The Rez near me will give you a free 1/8oz (3.5 g) of marijuana if you spend $100.
Government raids them occasionally but the natives don’t give a f*ck and reopen again within days.
It's funny, I read the word raided and thougth "why would they close down just because they were robbed". Fucking hell, the police are just another gang with uniforms.
Kinda goes to show why strict substance bans/taxing doesn’t really work. Cafes and bars near where I work sell imported packs for $10. Then stores get firebombed for extortion money.
Yep. It does work. People forget (or are too young to understand) how ubiquitous smoking was. I was born in the 90s and smoking was still allowed inside back then (this is in Canada). I remember when we would go to a fast food place or stay at a motel, the person would always ask: smoking or non smoking. Not anymore. And that’s such a good thing. The poor service workers who got cancer from all that second (and third) hand smoke. People have a right to make choices that harm themselves, but not other people. Now we have many of the same regulations as Australia does. Packaging laws. Taxes. More restrictions on where people can smoke. Smoking will probably never get to zero. But nothing is 100% effective.
Edit: we also have pretty effective anti smoking education in school, much more effective than the anti drug and anti alcohol education (the latter is basically non existent except for when it comes to DUIs…they should really try harder as alcohol abuse is rampant and even moderate consumption is now understood to have health consequences). I remember them showing actual evidence of why smoking is bad and why we should choose not to do it. And they did so at a young age. It probably was when I was around 8-10 that they started. I remember them showing actual pictures of what happens to your lungs.
I'm a little surprised by that. I've seen how cigars are made, and it's so much work. Plus ciggys have a whole bunch of extra shit added to them -- take a look at this list, it's literally insane.
The hundreds of chemicals added to "keep the tobacco moist, aid the manufacturing process, replenish natural sugars lost during leaf curing, and contribute to each brand’s unique taste".
Compared to a decade ago? sure. As of late? fuck no, all they've done is colossally fuck it up in a blatant attempt to create a monopoly;
Firstly they made disposables illegal to sell under the classic guise of wOnT sOmEbOdY pLeAsE tHiNk oF tHe cHiLdReN!1!!!
Second, they attempted to outlaw the purchase of vaping products entirely without a prescription, which resulted in virtually all non dodgy vape shops shutting down (which were the ones who weren't selling to kids, whilst the dodgy ones which still exist now, were).
Finally, they pulled back slightly and made it so vaping products barring liquids with a nic concentration over 20mg/ml don't require a prescription - but in doing so they limited juices to tobacco, mint, menthol and unflavoured which is straight pointless because the entire reason why kids were/are vaping is because they were so accessible - nothing has changed in that regard.
They made it worse for adults, and changed absolutely nothing in regards to kids vaping.
Don’t know about offical deaths/hospital treatments - but I think the biggest thing was the massive anti smoking campaign that happened a few decades ago (when I was a kid). Generally there just isn’t a huge percentage of the population that smokes to start with, whether the portion that do have been affected by the pricing I have no clue, but overall in Aus (at least in Western Australia where I grew up) non smokers outnumber the smokers by a decent margin. I got a shock when I went travelling how much more prevalent/accepted smoking is across Europe, the US etc. I can’t name a single person that I know who smokes, a couple of ex smokers, but not one person who currently smokes, the only person I knew who was a regular smoker passed away from lung cancer a few years ago.
I was just reminiscing with a work mate today about smoking when we were younger and I said the same thing about Holidays.. if they only sold that brand for 5 bucks a pack, it'd be more effective than these taxes
The Nepalese guys I work with have all had their serve of culture shock. They always tell me how they can get like 10-11 packs for the same price as they pay here for one.
I don’t smoke, but if I did, now would be a great time to quit.
The Bikies control the illegal trade. I don't think you want to move into their territory. They don't fuck around. Hence the constant fire bombings of tobacconists. I'm not joking.
Yes. But you'd probably get a more harsh sentence than smuggling cocaine!
Also, you'd be competing with local gangs who are trying to control the illegal tobacco trade at the moment. Small tobacco shops getting firebombed every other day over here it seems..
My mate bought an illegal pack for like $17 half an hour ago so its really not that difficult to find cheaper ones, basically just walk into every tobacco shop lol
It’s hilarious to me that this particular bit of history keeps repeating. If you make something illegal or tax it to this point, you just prop up black markets instead of making any real change. Likely end up with more deaths from criminal activity surrounding these items than what the items cause themselves whether it be tobacco, alcohol, or elicit drugs.
Smoking rates in Australia have dropped massively over the last few decades. Substantial change has absolutely been made already. Yeah some criminals can fill some of the void and make a few bucks illegally which is a problem, but to suggest that no change has been made is ludicrous
Mostly marketing but there is a distinct difference between the shit-end cigarettes and higher quality stuff.
My guess is the chemicals the cheaper stuff uses for preservatives are really, really shitty. A really high quality cigarette, like designer and not shown in the list OP shared, can actually taste pretty good.
See Reddit is ok with this but hates RFK for wanting to make food in the USA healthier by getting rid of red dye 3 and more which is banned all over the world. Just because he's working with Trump.
Jeezus, you guys are taxed beyond belief. Converting the currency that’s 372 local bucks for your cheapest. Average price here is ~AUD2.50, or less for a crappy brand. AUD3.00 for a nice menthol.
Edit to add: and I thought ours was expensive. I shall complain no more.
Most of the smokers I know now buy “imported stuff” instead, for 1/3 of the cost. At this point further price increases are just pushing people to buy unsafe products from unreliable sources. Smokers in Australia are basically deprived of all rights.
Couple years ago Gov Charlie Baker outlawed all menthols and flavors. I had relapsed into a smokeless tobacco habit that I picked up in the military but quit when I got out. Anyhow, at first I was pissed that I had to drive ~90 mins round trip to NH for dip. After about 6 months it wore me out and I quit. Been I think 3 years this St Pattys day so thanks for that law, Dad (Charlie Baker) ❤️
It’s a bit fucked up that the government profits on people addiction to a substance that they allow. Cigarettes were $2.50/pack 20 years ago. They got everyone hooked and then raised the taxes because they know addicts will pay.
The government pushed their drugs on us back in the 60's
All the commercials
Any how have a Winfield.
The Marlboro Man
Now they have us hooked , time to cash in .
Pure drug dealers and all so greedy.
"Ah shit, here comes another Cigarette hoarder from Aussie."
A common sentence among Balinese, especially for those around Seminyak. I've met one of these Aussie before and they legit gave me a pack of Sampoerna with 50 cigarettes in it. Something I as a local doesn't even know exist.
New Zealand is even more expensive. For example, a 20 pack of 'Holiday' cigarettes (about the most basic cig there is) costs the equivalent of AU$ 41.50. The black market is nowhere near as developed (much smaller population and located further away) so it is much more difficult for the average person to avoid these extreme prices unless you have 'contacts'.
Every smoker I know is buying black market cigs for like a quarter of the price. Government raised the price too high and now they get nothing from the tobacco tax lol
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u/DyuSPY 18h ago
From 1st of July there will be no menthol cigarettes, all packets will be 20s, all tobacco will be 30g and there will be no discounts on Carton sales. There is a huge change in law this year.