I was talking to a police officer today in town. He was up from Townsville, works in forensics. He was working on a break and enter at a local convienience store. This store had a smash and grab happen a while back and nothing was touched other than some petty cash, and around 500 packets of cigarettes. This was the third such case here in town over the past three months. The smokes had a retail of about $ 7,500. He said it has become common for this all around the state. You see what they are doing is taking the smokes and selling them for $ 5 per pack. Obviously no trouble selling them at this price. They are smart and leave no trace of evidence and the durries are untraceable....totally. You see by the government placing massive tax revenue on the smokes their price has sky rocketed. Thus unwittingly creating a new crime epidemic. Supply and demand I guess ! This country just keeps getting better !! Doh.
Yeah, I'm sure it's an epidemic. Must be why I can't watch the news without hearing about 10 stories a night about it.
What? Are you trying to correlate the tax on cigarettes as the catalyst for creating the incentive to find easy cash? IF it was not smokes it would be something else. Perhaps the better question is, Is the costs Government introducing to the everyday people creating the problem of those who are the least wealthy trying to find the easy way to get money?
Yes I am Garry. Unwittingly though. Garry you will not find a stauncher anti smoking person than me, as I had to watch my mother slowly waste away when I was only very young. All from smoking. I personally would like to see them banned from life as an illicit drug. This will never happen as the government derive to much excise from them. However it seems that the prohibitive cost of a packet of cigarettes has had an unwanted side effect. A black market for tailor mades. Stolen ones. You see if a packet of durries only cost eight bucks it wouldn't be worth all the trouble, but at fifteen to twenty bucks these theives stand to get up to ten bucks a pack. You can fit a hell of a lot of smokes in a black garbage bag - in fact around two hundred and fifty packs apparently before the weight becomes prohibitive for a quick getaway. Now most good convienience stores stock up to 1,000 or more packs of cigs apparently. Stolen death sticks are totally untraceable , take around thirty seconds to fill a bag or two, and easy to sell. A three minute crime. Very easy and very lucrative, and total cash flow. You're probably right Garry, it would be something else. Possibly not as easy to procure, or on sell however. So yes the government has unwittingly spawned a new type of crime. Not their fault, don't get me wrong, but spawned it they did nonetheless.
Well, the Howard Govt witlessly expanded the black market firearms "industry", Julia is only trying to catch up.
My God this thread is SMOKING !!! Sorry everyone couldn't help myself. I think I need something to eat.
Another line of thought would be if drugs became accessible and commonplace, the younger people or new generation would probably turn away from them as being “un cool”. We all know the young people and new generation always like to think they are the first to start a “new fad”.
Another line of thought would be if drugs became accessible and commonplace, the younger people or new generation would probably turn away from them as being un cool. We all know the young people and new generation always like to think they are the first to start a new fad.
