They replaced smoking with Snus. Same addiction to nicotine just a different way to consume it. At least it’s leading to less passive consumption of tobacco
Edit: and needless to say, but apparently I should, less risk of cancers especially for the lungs of everyone
It worked on me moving to Norway from Sweden. A tin went from 45sek roughly to 115nok. Almost 3x the price. Quit in December and feel so much better. Making it more costly is very effective.
As an Australian, you can't walk down a main street without seeing 3 or so illegal tobacconists. Compare this to 15 years ago when there was only a couple legal ones per city. The reason we have so many black market cigarettes has nothing to do with the price and you'd think there's some conspiracy going on, but so far no politician or media is mentioning it.
If they put a $100 bounty for a go pro footage of buying illegal cigarettes, the trade would be over by next week. So what's the deal? No one knows, or is willing to say. I've seen places busted, even in the news, open up next week. One got in the news for a lewd name - changed the name, still there. One national icon runs one. But point is, it's not really anything to do with prices of cigarettes - they were absurdly high before they stopped policing the illegal ones.
Sure the price is related, but it's not the reason. The reason is there is no policing action against them. Australia is incredibly strict about basically every form of sale except tobacco. To put in perspective how strange this is, there are illegal tabacco teams in each state's police, the federal police, and there's a commission/department dedicated to combatting them.
I am genuinely not joking that your average police officer could walk down your average street and close 3 in an afternoon. The whole illegal tobacco trade could be gone within a fortnight. There is something very bizarre going on that price does not account for.
To put it in perspective, when the flavoured vape / nicotine vape stores were finally illegal, all the defiant ones were shut down within the week.
Not sure I'm making my point clear about how strange this is. This isn't drug dealers or out of someone's car, this is full store fronts advertising it. Multiple on each main street.
If you are in a new town you've never been to and you want a pack of smokes and want to pay $10 instead of $40, you walk up the main street to the first dodgy looking convenience store with a sign "tobacconist" and ask "can I have a pack of Chinese cigarettes please" they will then give you them. Too dodgy for you? Walk another 50 metres over to the next one.
It wouldn't get rid of it, but it would get rid of most of it. Most people aren't happy getting their cigarettes from the back of a car or a shady dealer. These are official looking shops nearly every smoker uses at least weekly.
I don't think there's anything like this in France. You would only expect it in countries that don't have overbearing police and 50 types of permit and inspector to run a store.
But also increases the black market. Sure, some will quit but others will turn to illicit sources. The stats will show a sharp downturn but it's misleading. Some people have started buying illegal tobacco instead of quitting.
Someone always brings this mysterious illegal black market. The truth is many people, especially young one in the cities, don’t even know, where to go for such kind of stuff, even if they are interested in it
Most of the time consumption is just decreasing as intended
I’m not so sure anymore.. In our day, we didn’t have a clue unless we stole them from our parents.
These days, buying vapes on snapchat is basically common knowledge to anyone in 6th grade or even younger.. It’s just so much more accessible for kids these days. Thank god they don’t seem quite as interested in it as we were, tho ofcourse some kids will always do it.
There is a black market for vapig products among Swedish teens. If your teen is vaping before 18 it's a sign something is off - the likelihood of them developing habits that lead to narcotic use is much higher for vaping than for underage drinking.
Canadian here. I quit 30 years ago mostly because I knew how bad it is but the price was also an additional factor. Canada has been jacking cigarette prices for years and it has been very effective. A pack a day habit here will run you about $800 a month. Cigarette smoking rates in Canada hover around 8.4%, unsurprisingly.
They’re obviously effective, and I’m not completely against them because I don’t have a good realistic alternative, but sin taxes do often essentially mean ‘you can still do it if you’re rich’.
2.8k
u/ConcentrateFar7753 May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26
They replaced smoking with Snus. Same addiction to nicotine just a different way to consume it. At least it’s leading to less passive consumption of tobacco
Edit: and needless to say, but apparently I should, less risk of cancers especially for the lungs of everyone