New Ciggs rule (yes, another)

FranknFurter

Noticed in yesterdays herald that I think its from next month on (?), cigarettes can only be sold in packs of 20.
No more 10 packs.

This I think has gone too far, first the insane price hike, now they are penalising lower income people who choose to smoke.
Makes me feel like the "mammy says no!" scenario.
If I choose to smoke myself to death (as Im sure somone will say), in my own home or outside, that is my decision.

How can the government deny individual choice like this?
First they charge a ridiculous amount for a pack, fine we accecpted that, then we now have to stand outside to smoke, fine, we accecpted that too,.... and now, they actually want to force people who normally have 10 a day to have 20?

I mean come on, this is big brother losing its mind.

b

Ruu_Old

Well because they are the government and we (some of us) put them there in the first place. Seriously though theres not a whole lot you can do about and yes it has gone too far. My dad wont be happy when he hears that he has to get 20 Major instead of 10.:eek:

Big Chief

Is this 100% to be implemented?

if so its beyond a joke and takes the pi*s. All it will do is intice the normal 10 a day or less smoker to smoke more as thats what a bigger packet does, as you dont see it going down as fast.

FranknFurter

Yep, and for anyone who says "you would be getting 20 anyway for two days" I say this........

1- Ciggs do NOT taste the same after the pack has been open 24 hours.

2- With most smokers, its a case of "if I have them I will smoke them, often without realising!"

So essentially what, they want to make people who only smoke 10 a day move to 20 a day, maybe to make up for the money they have lost by people giving up because they now have to smoke outside?.

Its crazy, and now im going to bed angry.
(had a long buffy / ciggs / ice-cream / drpepper / talking about old classic computers, night lol)

b

20 Times 20 Times

Ruu wrote:

Well because they are the government and we (some of us) put them there in the first place. Seriously though theres not a whole lot you can do about and yes it has gone too far. My dad wont be happy when he hears that he has to get 20 Major instead of 10.:eek:

I can't imagine your dad caring too much , as he is smoking major in the first place.

Ruu_Old

Sarge wrote:

I can't imagine your dad caring too much , as he is smoking major in the first place.

Its not the point though, basically forcing people to buy packs of 20 instead of 10.

bizmark

We are quickly becomeing slave's to a bunch of speical interest nazi's who whine the loudest or can scare the mob with bull****.

Tbh the goverment might as well get it over with and entact the following law :
Your fee to do what ever you want ......Assumeing you cant so much as stub your toe doing it. :mad:

20 Times 20 Times

I personally think it’s a great move that will in turn stop underage smoking, as they cannot buy the 10 packs with their lunch money anymore. Most smokers will not be bothered by this to be honest. Ruu your dad smoking major certainly won't be bothered by this as it means he doesn’t have to go the shop everyday now.

Dirk Gently

Is it actually going to happen? Every year going back the last 5 years I hear of this suppose to be happening but it never does. I remember a couple of years ago I went into a local petrol station and asked for 10 cigs and the bloke behind the counter told me they only sell 20's now because the government were suppose to be doing away with 10's. A week later the same shop went back to selling 20's cos the gov never followed through. I use to work in a wholesale part time while at college and remember we stopped ordering 10's a couple of times because we thought a change in the law was imminent but again it never happened and we had to re-order loads of cases of 10's.

I can see why they want to do it though, it will definitely discourage potential new smokers from taking up the habit if they have to fork out 6 euro for a pack but for us addicts it will mean we will become heavier smokers and have less money. I know for a fact that I always smoke what ever I have every day, whether it be 10, 20 or 30. If its there it gets smoked, that’s why I never buy duty free packs or even when I was working in the wholesaler and could get a case cheap I rarely done it cos I would just end up smoking them faster and it was actually cheaper for me to buy 10 a day in a shop than buy a full case in work cos I got better value for money just smoking the 10 a day. Fuck it, I’ll be dead at 50 anyway so I’ll just use what is suppose to be a pension fund to pay for the ciggys.

Wishbone Ash

Ruu wrote:

My dad wont be happy when he hears that he has to get 20 Major instead of 10.:eek:

I can't understand that. I smoked Major for years and hated having to buy 10s as they were always stale. 99% of Major smokers buy 20s in my experience. I would usually have selected another brand instead if 20s were not available. (Off them 9 years now )

bizmark wrote:

We are quickly becomeing slave's to a bunch of speical interest nazi's

We live in a democracy bizmark - they didn't elect themselves.

Sarge wrote:

I personally think it’s a great move that will in turn stop underage smoking, as they cannot buy the 10 packs with their lunch money anymore. Most smokers will not be bothered by this to be honest. Ruu your dad smoking major certainly won't be bothered by this as it means he doesn’t have to go the shop everyday now.

100% agree.

Wishbone Ash

Just another thought:

I have only ever seen 10s available in Ireland and the UK and I've travelled to a fair few countries. Many of the big international brands are only available in 20s.


(PS - This should be in the Consumer Issues Forum)

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

I personally think it’s a great move that will in turn stop underage smoking, as they cannot buy the 10 packs with their lunch money anymore. Most smokers will not be bothered by this to be honest. Ruu your dad smoking major certainly won't be bothered by this as it means he doesn’t have to go the shop everyday now.

so kids can buy mobile phones, credit, alcohol, clothes, cds, dvds.. but can't fork out 3-4 euro extra for a pack of smokes?

two of them can't throw in some cash to get ten each? ... how stupid do you think they are?

Karl Hungus

It seems a ridiculous measure to accomplish god know's what. Honestly, I can't fathom what this is going to acheive.

padi89

I dont really see what the big deal is TBH.Its only in Ireland and the UK that i have seen ciggs been sold in tens.
I dont smoke anymore but the only time i did purchase tens was in school .

lostexpectation

ouch , that is a jip for smokers?

esskay

In NZ and Oz they sell 20,25 and 50 boxes. No tens. I gave up ciggs while travelling there and not being able to buy a ten box actually helped. It didn't seem right to buy 20 ciggs if I was giving up but I could have rationalised buy a ten box for a quick hit. Weird, but I don't smoke anymore so it's all good.

bizmark

Wishbone Ash wrote:

We live in a democracy bizmark - they didn't elect themselves.
.

I belive thomas jefferson said it best :
“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.”

BuffyBot

I personally think it’s a great move that will in turn stop underage smoking, as they cannot buy the 10 packs with their lunch money anymore.

LOL. How much "lunch money" do you think kids get nowadays?

toomevara

This one is a really vexed issue, and everything I say, I say from the point of view of a reformed, and at one time really militant smoker, lord I loved smokin' those tabs, yes indeedy!!!!

The problem here is that the smoking issue is where rights and responsibilities collide. Politically I'm a libertarian and as far as I'm concerned the less the government, any government, has to do with the lives of the private citizen the bloody better...

So, that means I reckon any mature responsible adult has the god-given and inalienable right to merrily smoke themselves to death if thats what they so choose to do..and more power to 'em.

The problems begin though, when the right to smoke, collides with other people's right to a smoke free environment. Alot of people genuinely find smoking repulsive and believe that it exerts a huge negative impact on their lives, and I would also support whole heartedly these people's rights to say 'no thanks' to smoking and smokers...

So where does that leave us...two completely logically sound positions which are mutually and fundamentally incompatible...Christ knows..I don't, better men than me have tried to work it out and failed.....but on the ground common sense and goodwill usually seem to prevail (in the best Irish tradition).....

So to smokers I say remain courteous and polite re: smoking and to non-smokers be considerate of those who are addicted to the noxious weed, and maybe we can all get along without throwing our toys out of the pram, or, more importantly the need for any further invasive legislation.....

Incidentally the 10 box issue is complete red herring, allowing the powers that be to point at an 'initiative' on smoking, which, while wholly ineffectual and pointless, grabs the headlines and makes 'em look good. education and awareness programmes cost cash, quickie, soft-target legislation like this doesn't, bottom line...Sorry smokers you have my sympathy.....

Gordon

You smokers are unbelievable. You complain that the government stops you from forcing your dirty smoke on other people and inhibits your smoking, and now you complain that the government is forcing you to smoke.

Such a bunch of whiners.

Incidentally, nobody is forcing you to smoke 20 cigarettes. If you think that you have to smoke twenty because you have twenty in front of you then you have a serious addiction and you should try and stop, smoking kills you know?

If it's such a problem for you then get an airtight box, put ten cigarettes in it when you buy the pack, put the box in the fridge and smoke them the next day. Don't be a slave to the tobacco trade by thinking you've got to smoke them because they're in front of you. You have a brain, use it.

As noted, many countries don't have 10 packs, Greece included. So stop your whining.

Gordon : smoker.

My mother smokes. I doubt we could afford buying this amount all the time, and you know what? it's not going to encourage anyone to stop. She's never going to stop. Stupid govt. If they want to get rid of it, ban it altogether. Everyone lives happily ever after. ¬.¬

nlgbbbblth

Once again I see smokers running down their habit with self-loathing comments.

I smoked for 17 years and gave up because my girlfriend (now my wife) wasn't keen on it.

However when I did smoke I always enjoyed it.

Why smoke if you're going to complain about it?
Or constantly belittle and denigrate the activity?

If I still I smoked
- I would not be in favour of the smoking ban. It makes life more difficult for smokers.
- I would not be in favour of banning boxes of 10. Again it makes life difficult for a section of the smoking community.

As I no longer smoke the above issues do not bother me.

Ciaran500

bluewolf wrote:

My mother smokes. I doubt we could afford buying this amount all the time, and you know what? it's not going to encourage anyone to stop. She's never going to stop. Stupid govt. If they want to get rid of it, ban it altogether. Everyone lives happily ever after. ¬.¬

Isn't it cheaper to buy 20 instead of two packs of 10? How is it more expensive?

I assumed it was more expensive o.O
It just seems like a stupid rule is all, I was trying to say that making people buy in more bulk isn't going to make anyone quit

Lump

That was supposed to come in about a year ago, maybe more. It's to try prevent kids etc from buying fags, IE 20 are twice as expensive!

L31mr0d

bluewolf wrote:

If they want to get rid of it, ban it altogether. Everyone lives happily ever after. ¬.¬

They eventually will, but they are taking baby steps like a smart gov't. If they just BANNED smoking there would be mass protests for civil rights and the like, but by slowly chipping away at all facets of smoking they are slowly, not only removing the commercial benefits of smoking but also changing peoples psyche so that we now accept it more so as a deplorable habit, eventually it will vanish from society and we'll wonder how we where ever so gullable to turn over our money to pay to reduce our standard of life and slowly kill ourselves. We have known for decades that smoking kills, but in the public eye smoking became a symbol of Hollywood celebrity, a sign of distinction and class. I'm glad this image is changing and I think all the smokers should actually consider there are a helluvalot more serious things out there that would affect our civil rights if they where changed.

Maybe they hope that if they double each smokers intake the health problems and death rates will increase to a point where the general public will completely reject smoking so that the gov't will never actually have to ban it, the public will.

... and what are the smokers complaining about anyway, your addiction is the problem, the fact you can't control yourself to only smoke 10 at a time should be your main concern. Anyway, smokers tend to group together in packs so just buy yourselves some 10 cigarette holders, then split the pack between yourselves?

purple'n'gold

Cigarettes, cigars etc. should be banned altogether. They are nothing but a filthy dirty habit. And since the smoking ban came in the streets outside shops and pubs are in a disgusting state with cigarette ends.

toomevara

bizmark wrote:

I belive thomas jefferson said it best :
“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.”

That's the social contract we all live under bizmark, As someone else once said Democracy is the least worst option of all the forms of human governance. Also, in the interests of balance, did jefferson not say ;

"The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government."

How does that square with the rights of non-smokers not to have what they believe to be a noxious, life-threatening habit inflicted on them in the public arena.....?

Terry

Lump wrote:

That was supposed to come in about a year ago, maybe more. It's to try prevent kids etc from buying fags, IE 20 are twice as expensive!

the same kids that can afford credit for their mobile phones and petrol for their scooters?

faceman

As long as people smoking causes damage to other people's health and cost the health service millions annually, then i couldnt care less if they up the price 100euro.

These smoking threads are pointless, it becomes agreesive smokers arguing against agreesive non smokers. Neither side ever backs down or concedes on any point. Just let the smokers die smoking and we'll all be happy! LOL

crybaby

i dont think many people over the age of 20 buy 10 packs really, i use to do it for ages but now just get the 20 pack and that usually lasts me around 2-3 days. it doesnt effect lower income people in the slightest if someone smokes 10 a day then grand just buy 20 and thats your lot for 2 days. it will stop 12-14 year olds getting the hands on smokes so easy, jesus remember how cheap 10 packs use to be about 7 or 8 years ago

they taste fine after 24 hours so stop being so fussy, 2 days+ i can accept your point but anything less than that and they are grand. if you are worried about not being able to control yourself then go get two ten boxes now and everytime you have to buy 20 split them up into your ten boxes

Dyr

someone should call the cig police....

Dooom

Bambi, there's the door...

Dyr

seems more apt for me to disappear in a puff of smoke tbh...

*puff*

Terry

faceman wrote:

As long as people smoking causes damage to other people's health and cost the health service millions annually, then i couldnt care less if they up the price 100euro.

These smoking threads are pointless, it becomes agreesive smokers arguing against agreesive non smokers. Neither side ever backs down or concedes on any point. Just let the smokers die smoking and we'll all be happy! LOL

ahh, the old health service arguement.
sicne the introduction of the euro (only 4 years ago), a pack of 20 cigarettes has risen from €5 to €6.45. this is hardly in line with inflation.
where do you think this money is supposed to be going?

i think you need to speak to the tainiste about that certain misappropriation of funds.

smokers also pay more for health insurance.

[Jackass]

Bambi's my hero!

Do you know that nearly 75% of the cost of ciggarettes in Ireland is tax!!!

At what point does "it's for your own good" stop and "Give me your fu*king wallet sh*thead!!" begin?

This is just another way to f*ck people over...

Essentially, this guarentees more ciggarette sales (whether or not all of them are smoked at the same time etc...but over the course of the year, more boxes of 20 will be sold even when you count 10's as half packs.)

*sigh* I'm just so sick of this "nanny state" that's just fuc*ing everyone over and everything up...

faceman

julep wrote:

ahh, the old health service arguement.
sicne the introduction of the euro (only 4 years ago), a pack of 20 cigarettes has risen from €5 to €6.45. this is hardly in line with inflation.
where do you think this money is supposed to be going?

i think you need to speak to the tainiste about that certain misappropriation of funds.

smokers also pay more for health insurance.

Where it goes isnt the point, dont want no health issues as the result of passive smoking.

seamus

Boo hoo.

Suck it up.

I don't complain that I can only get decaff coffee in small jars.

It's no more expensive to buy cigs in twenties.

RandomOne

toomevara wrote:

The problem here is that the smoking issue is where rights and responsibilities collide. Politically I'm a libertarian and as far as I'm concerned the less the government, any government, has to do with the lives of the private citizen the bloody better...

So, that means I reckon any mature responsible adult has the god-given and inalienable right to merrily smoke themselves to death if thats what they so choose to do..and more power to 'em.

The problems begin though, when the right to smoke, collides with other people's right to a smoke free environment. Alot of people genuinely find smoking repulsive and believe that it exerts a huge negative impact on their lives, and I would also support whole heartedly these people's rights to say 'no thanks' to smoking and smoke-filled environment.

Right there with you except the last word (which I've changed in the quote. Even as a smoker, I would never go to the smoking section of a restaurant, and avoided pubs as they became too smoky. God knows what it was like for non-smokers. Some smokers are considerate and some aren't. It's those who aren't that cause the problem. A lot of the shops around me don't sell 10's anyway, so it won't make much difference if this new bit of law comes in or not, but in the UK they're now discussing raising the legal age of selling cigs to over 18's instead of 16 - probably far more effective at stopping young folk get started than removing packs of 10 from sale. Personally I'd sooner see the age change than 10-packs go purely because I can't see the latter achieving anything useful.

Terry

faceman wrote:

Where it goes isnt the point, dont want no health issues as the result of passive smoking.

where in this country are you going to be exposed to passive smoke?

in the open air?

oh yeah, that little wisp is going to kill you.

seamus

RandomOne wrote:

Personally I'd sooner see the age change than 10-packs go purely because I can't see the latter achieving anything useful.

The legal age was already raised here a few years back.

Silverfish

Well, I say hurrah and about time.

Now when I go to the Centra, they can't say 'I don't have 20's here, I'll give you two tens' and charge me the full price for them. In which case I say forget it, I'll get them somewhere else.

Thanks for charging me for YOUR stock control issues. Goddamn.

RandomOne

seamus wrote:

The legal age was already raised here a few years back.

Cheers for that.

Kinda makes the whole "not selling 10's" even more pointless in my view tho.

Terry

not really.
there's an election soon and the current government will use this to their advantage.
other than that, yes it is completely pointless.

Chakar

They want to discourage people from smoking and it makes it harder for people to get their smokes as they have to shell out 6.75 euro each time.

Dooom

6.45..
What about all the smokers (I'd say a fairly large percentage) who smoke more than ten a day?

I personally hardly ever buy 10 boxes anyway, so it's not that big a deal to me.

Chakar

There will probably be an increase in the price of a pack of twenty in Budget 2007.

Dave!

That's sh*t... I like to smoke every so often when I'm drinkin, and I can't smoke 20 in a night!

Dooom

Course you can...

Terry

DaveMcG wrote:

That's sh*t... I like to smoke every so often when I'm drinkin, and I can't smoke 20 in a night!

my friend was the same. he used to bring the smokes home with him and keep them for the next time he went drinking.

now he's addicted to cocaine.

Nick_oliveri

I just ran out of cigs!! Im broke as a joke and therefore like my ten boxes. I'd give up if i had to buy 20's. 75% tax - is this true? I cant go a cup of tea without a fag it just doesn't work!!

Ahh feck it, i'll give up now, the shops too far away. (<50 metres!)