Ireland: European "capital" of cigarette smuggling

goose2005

Anyone can remove illegal cigarettes and repackage them in a Johnny Blue box to evade detection. What I meant was a print around the band on the cigarette above the filter, where the brand name normally is. To me, that would be a foolproof way of indicating which cigarettes were duty paid or otherwise. Not that I should be giving those ba$tards ideas on how to catch us smokers, but thats not going to stop them.

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/09/12/singapore-new-rule-for-cigarettes/

I do accept that Singapores circumstances are far different to those prevailing in Ireland, apart from one aspect. The Island location.

Perhaps a wiser move (long term) could be towards a coordinated tax strategy on tobacco across the European Union.

However, we have to consider that many attempts throughout history have been made to ban drugs, alcohol, gambling, tobacco, and other aspects of the human lifestyle, good, bad and indifferent. Take todays attitudes towards homosexuality, divorce, contraception, etc, against those prevalent 30 years ago. Compare and contrast that to the attitudes prevalent in 1979 about smoking and drinking.

I would say that we are more accepting of homosexuality, divorce and contraception, more accepting of drinking, definitely far less accepting of smoking, and thats no bad thing.

There does come a point in time where the pendulum of self righteous indignation can swing too far in one direction and a backlash takes place.

At some point in time, people will start growing their own tobacco plants, just as they are going now with cannibis. The Governments who make these rules and regulations, and make these taxes have no clue of reality on the streets, or reality for the average person.

So to paraphrase Frank Gallagher....

"Make poverty history, cheaper fags now"

The only way its likely to happen is to have duty free tobacco completely banned, and only have the tax paid option available. This, coupled with very stringent checks at land and sea entry points. This is something I don't regard as feasible, and it would actually be more trouble than its worth.

Considering the ordeal that International Airline travel is these days, I don't think thats very likely.

Plus, people can smuggle them in by landroutes using the Bus Eireann Eurolines network. I could easily get in 10,000 cigarettes by that route alone, if I was so inclined, and had the patience for a 3 or 4 day Bus journey.

The only rational solution is to cut the tax back to the average levels applicable to a country with our size and cost of living. If our healths services justified Scandinavian levels of sin taxes, then fine.

But they bloody well don't, and thats why smokers and others are defying the Government. ASH and the likes of Harney, Cowen and Lenihan should realise that.

Honest taxes mean honest taxpayers.

Write that 100 times children.

Until it sinks in.

Anyway, I'm off to smoke a nice Malaysian Dunhill.....