How widespread is tobacco related crime?

rubadub

You often hear the old stories about heroin-fuelled junkies mugging old grannies for their next fix. Many toxicology textbooks regard nicotine as the most addictive substance known. How much crime do you think the tobacco trade causes? A pack of 20 is over €6 these days so somebody on 40 a day which is about €90 a week. This is more than many heroin addicts would spend on drugs per week. So where does your average nicotine addict on the dole get the money for his weekly drugs?

cyclopath2001

Well there's the many people who throw their cigarette butts on the platform at railways stations or who just sling them on the street as they walk. Then, there's the motorists who empty their ash-trays at traffic lights.

These are are all offences under the litter acts & they probably wouln't allow it at home.

Small offences compared to druggies, but they're degrading the quailty of the environment for the rest of us. It makes one wonder what these smokers think of others.

rubadub

cyclopath2001 wrote:

Small offences compared to druggies

But they are "druggies" too, hopelessly addicted to a substance considered more addictove than heroin or freebase cocaine. How many people are mugged to feed nictoine addiction compared to heroin addiction, there are far more nictoine addicts on the street.

Chalk

its generally regarded as eaidier to hold down a job while still being a nicotine addict.
also the price per "fix" is about 35cent and many addicts would not require more than 10-20 per day.

since the cost of this would then not be more than what a person on minimum wage per hour earned the need to commit a crime to feed ones nicotine habit probably never extends beyond "mugging" someone on the street to acquire a cigarette without paying for it.

im sure the gardai would not have figures regardinng this sort of soliticing as many people would not report it


_____
just to note from your post, the 40 a day smoker on the dole is probably a rare beast, if someone is smoking that much and on a state subsidised income im sure theyve at this stage moved to rollies

Sleepy

Think about the amount of teenagers that nick money from their mother's purse to pay for their smokes.

henbane

cyclopath2001 wrote:

Small offences compared to druggies, but they're degrading the quailty of the environment for the rest of us. It makes one wonder what these smokers think of others.

We think you're a fúcktard. But that's only when we're not eating your children and listening to the lamentation of your women. "I'm pro-life, I'm a non-smoker"... "Let the party begin!"

Chalk

eating children causes cancer........

jetsonx

as an aside , is it true that the irish government owns blue chip stock and shares many of whom belong to Philip Morris?

Gurgle

Chalk wrote:

eating children causes cancer........

Smoking children causes cancer.

cyclopath2001

Dealing in contraband tobacco is organised by criminal gangs?

Gurgle

henbane wrote:

We think you're a fúcktard.

OMFG, henbane is either the Queen or the Pope!

cyclopath2001

Dealing in contraband tobacco is organised by criminal gangs?

Why bother? Nip over to spain for abt 50 euro, buy 800 and fly back. In total the flight, and the cigs will cost you abt 100 euro. Then resell to friends and you can make a huge profit. Funnily enough, you can buy Marlboro Lights in Spain, made in England, that cost under two euro a packet, compared to 6.50 (Dunno exact price) here. And its all legal, since you've paid the tax amount (for the cigs) in Spain.

cyclopath2001 wrote:

Small offences compared to druggies, but they're degrading the quailty of the environment for the rest of us. It makes one wonder what these smokers think of others.

That your post is idiotic. And since smokers are now to be called druggies, can we make up a name for all you non-smokers?

As for the environment, do you use chewing gum, drive a car, eat meat, only use bio-degradable materials? You see, don't complain abt others ****ing with the environment, unless you can prove to me that you're actually trying to avoid it yourself.

rubadub wrote:

But they are "druggies" too, hopelessly addicted to a substance considered more addictove than heroin or freebase cocaine

Do you really believe the rubbish you're speaking? Hopelessly addicted? Yep, I've been smoking on and off for over a decade, and I'm hopelessly addicted to suger.

cyclopath2001

Deleted User wrote:

As for the environment, do you use chewing gum, drive a car, eat meat, only use bio-degradable materials? You see, don't complain abt others ****ing with the environment, unless you can prove to me that you're actually trying to avoid it yourself.

None of the above is illegal, throwing cigarette butts in the street is.

Deleted User wrote:

That your post is idiotic. ..... can we make up a name for all you non-smokers?

Considerate, law-abiding citizens?

BTW you might earn the respect of others if you refrained from calling people idiots and stuck to the subject of the thread. We're discussing 'cigarette-related crime'.

Heineken

rubadub wrote:

You often hear the old stories about heroin-fuelled junkies mugging old grannies for their next fix. Many toxicology textbooks regard nicotine as the most addictive substance known. How much crime do you think the tobacco trade causes? A pack of 20 is over €6 these days so somebody on 40 a day which is about €90 a week. This is more than many heroin addicts would spend on drugs per week. So where does your average nicotine addict on the dole get the money for his weekly drugs?

you obviously have no clue as to the price of heroin. More like 150€(thats a rough figure i heard from a junky who was talking about how much he spent in a long night) per day if they(the junkies) have that much.

rubadub

Heineken wrote:

you obviously have no clue as to the price of heroin. More like 150€(thats a rough figure i heard from a junky who was talking about how much he spent in a long night) per day if they(the junkies) have that much.

My mates brother is an alcoholic and can get by on 5 cans a day. Thats €35 a week. Other alcoholics could spend €35 on 2 or 3 drinks in a pub, and could easily spend 600 a week if they drank in a pub. Some junkies use more than others and many are ripped off by dealers. What price do you think you could get heroin for? do you think a junkie living among dealers could get it cheaper? I remember a guy in my school got onto heroin, middle class guy who reckoned he payed 10 times what a inner city junky paid.

rubadub

Deleted User wrote:

Do you really believe the rubbish you're speaking? Hopelessly addicted? Yep, I've been smoking on and off for over a decade, and I'm hopelessly addicted to suger.

If tobacco had always been illegal you would may look at nictoine addicts differently. I know many people who have tried to give up many many times and are self confessed "hopeless addicts". You could well be hooked on sugar too, ever try and go without it? There are groups in the states which actually want refined sugar banned as it is considered a physically addictive drug by them.

sovtek

Heineken wrote:

you obviously have no clue as to the price of heroin. More like 150€(thats a rough figure i heard from a junky who was talking about how much he spent in a long night) per day if they(the junkies) have that much.

...which is an excellent argument for decriminalizing it.

FTA69

A fix or "turn-on" of smack can cost between €10-30, it is about the size of a fingernail, maybe a bit smaller. People can go through between 1 or 5 of these a day so the price is considerably less than that of cigarettes. Cocaine is also far more expensive with it costing between €35-70 a gram depending where you live.

I think people here are being far too melodramatic by insinuating fags are a major cause of "crime" in this country, they aren't, they are simply a bad, unhealthy habit. I can think of far more pressing issues to be honest, like drinking too much.

DublinWriter

Deleted User wrote:

Why bother? Nip over to spain for abt 50 euro, buy 800 and fly back. In total the flight, and the cigs will cost you abt 100 euro. Then resell to friends and you can make a huge profit.

First of all the intra-EU allowance for personal use is 2,600 cigs. Secondly, it's illegal to re-sell them.

Well, I'm a smoker, I work hard, pay for my own addication through legal gainful employment.

However, should they get any more expensive, then I'm braking into your house.

The UK government learnt to it's cost in the late 90's than maybe putting up taxation on cigs wasn't really a bright idea as it lead to a lot of organised crime in the North-East and North-West of the UK springing up ready to supply smuggled cigs.

It's basically the same as prohibition of alcohol in the states in the 20's - thanks to that we have the mafia.

sovtek

FTA69 wrote:

I think people here are being far too melodramatic by insinuating fags are a major cause of "crime" in this country, they aren't, they are simply a bad, unhealthy habit. I can think of far more pressing issues to be honest, like drinking too much.

I think the intent of the post was to point out how cigarettes are more addictive and dangerous and kill more people than all illegal drugs put together.
IIRC and as an aside....legal prescription drugs kill alot more people than any of the former...combined

Nevyn

taboacco related crime, what like hammering on your door at 10 am on st stephens day waking me and the kids up so they could try sell me ciggerette that had no duty stamp stickers. So what if there was not a shop open in a half hours walking distance damn lucky they werent killed on my doorstep.
And I did ring the garda.

50 to 90 euros a week is a lot of money and the more stressed a person is the more they smoke , worse if that person is a parent or if both parents smoke that is 100 to 150 euros a week going up in smoke not being spent on thier kids and damaging thier childrens health.

Patches to get off ciggies are advailible for those on medical card just like methadon.

FTA69

Why would you bother ringing the pigs simply because some youngfella is trying to make a quick euro out of selling a few off ciggies? I wouldn't waste the money on my phone bill to be honest. Aside from it being puritanical it is pointless as you'd sooner have the Easter Bunny arriving to investigate this most heinous of crimes.

Meantimes on buzzing on my dutyless, Spanish Fortuna Lights as I speak!

Myuahaaaa ha ha ha ha.....

DublinWriter

sovtek wrote:

I think the intent of the post was to point out how cigarettes are more addictive and dangerous and kill more people than all illegal drugs put together.

Yes sovtek, tobacco is more dangerous than crack cocaine, cocaine and heroin combinted.

...back to sleep, your government is in control.