This is illegal

but people will keep doing it. They are addicted.

Apparently cigarettes now cost $40 or more a packet in this country and smokers are objecting. They are turning to illegal tobacco sources instead.

If the reports in the media are correct then there are an increasing number of arson attacks on the legal tobacco outlets. They are in the grip of the criminal gangs who have moved in to provide cheaper products.

How much cheaper? I have no idea but I suppose anything less than the cost of the legitimate source is considered a bargain.

I don't smoke. I have never as much as tried to smoke a single cigarette. I have never taken an illegal drug. Unfortunately I have had to endure far too much of other people's cigarette habits. As I have grown into what might well be my ninth cat life I am even less tolerant of tobacco smoke. I have endured far too much "second hand smoke" in staff rooms. It was the second hand smoke which kept me out of the university "bar" when I was in London. It was not a disapproval of drinking or my allergy to alcohol.  I know many people enjoy a drink and it is entirely up to them if they choose to have one. My only concern is that people do not harm others when they choose to indulge. As I do not enjoy the sensation of having swallowed stinging nettles (which is how alcohol affects me) I can always have lemon squash.  What I cannot do is avoid other people's cigarette smoke.

But smoking is still legal in this country. The government still gets a great deal of money from the filthy habit of those who smoke. The tobacconist gets far less. It is my understanding that about seventy percent of the price of a packet of cigarettes is made up of taxes - the excise tax and then the GST.  Somehow it does not stop people from smoking. Smoking is addictive, very addictive. 

This is what the criminal gangs are relying on. They must have been laughing when the government told us that only chemists can sell "vapes". Many chemists have refused to sell them on health grounds. The gangs are bringing in the vapes as well but subtle marketing can also switch people to illegal tobacco. 

Banning tobacco altogether is unlikely to work. Banning vaping won't work either. Should we raise the age where it is possible to buy these things? That might help a little but how do you do it? Put the need for smoking related medical attention as a very low priority? I can hear the outcry.

Those illegally supplying what is at present a legal product do need to be targetted. They need to be treated harshly because smoking affects more people than the smoker. I need to go to a funeral this week. The woman in question never smoked. People around her did. They smoked heavily and it affected her health. She paid the ultimate price for their addiction. They need to be held to account.