I’m saying this as someone born and raised in Alberta.
Because western Canadians LOVE to feel victimized and use that to justify illegal behaviour.
“Wah wah wah” they cry, “I have to buy illegal smokes to own the libs!”
I love this province but I am so fucking sick of the whiny, entitled, uneducated, everything-phobic shitheads who are gradually taking over everything I grew up with.
western Canadians
Hey now. You’re only in MID-Western Canada.
well it’s the price duh. I’d even go as far as to say that in Toronto the majority of smokers are now smoking native smokes as opposed to “legal” cigarettes.
a pack of Belmonts small king in many places will run you just over $20 a pack. $20! why pay that when you can just drive to the nearest rez and buy a loaf of cigarettes for practically the same price. Or hell, now, they’ll come to you with cartons/loafs. Guy I know does beer delivery that isn’t via the LCBO/Beer Store and they also sell these cigarettes. you just go online, put in your order for beer and smokes, and like an hour or two later they’re at your door with your stuff. he’s making a killing. especially on holidays when the LCBO shuts down.
respectfully- what the fuck is a loaf of cigarettes?
It’s a Ziploc bag the width of a cigarette that can hold a carton’s worth of loose smokes.
See the last episode of season 1 Letterkenny for a short documentary on the subject.
loose cigarettes that come in a big ziplock bag that resembles a loaf of bread. Some people keep them in their freezer so as to “stay fresh”.
huh, we’ve always just called those bag smokes in the states
Is that what we call those? 🤷♂️ don’t smoke so that’s interesting.
Yeah that’s pretty stupid. It’s a great way to progressively quit while still keeping your habit.
Chretien solved the illegal cigarette trade once, he lowered the taxes and made illegal smokes not worth it
Massive increase in black market tobacco in Australia as well. The government tried to reduce smoking by making it increasingly unaffordable and it got to a point that it became worthwhile for organized crime to step in. The obvious solution is to reduce taxes so the margins are not there for criminals but keep them high enough to deter new smokers. But that would be far too logical for politicians.
Work. The word you’re looking for is working.
It’s easy as shit to buy tobacco in bulk and just roll your own as needed… I think smokers are rediscovering that fact
tldr - price
I mean, holy fuck yeah.
I go to the smoke shop in out here in Ontario, spend $200 and I am literally saving $2000 - TWO THOUSAND FUCKING DOLLARS!
It’s $26 a pack at the circle k or whatever convenience store. It’s $18 for a carton at the rezz.
Think of the money you’d save if you stopped smoking. 😃
I’m trying. I’ve stopped my other vices. Smoking is a different level of addiction.
I’ve been trying to quit also. I’ve also easily quit other vices, nicotine is a cunt. I feel you.
Same for me as well. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to quit and failed. Finally changed to vaping almost 11 yrs ago (although the new excise taxes on vape juice are as bad as cigarettes now).
Which you’d think is obvious 😂
Western Canada has pretty much had it with the government’s regulations.
Is it illegal if I drive 5 mins to the rez and buy them there? Is the rez ‘organized crime’?
Not yet.
Never will be. Rez land is off limits for gov’t rules on selling tobacco … as it should be.
I mean this 100% seriously: the natives should sell every fucking drug known to mankind to non natives.
It’s their sovereign land, they’d make a fucking killing, and there’s an element of revenge there I quite like.
But the government can impose rules on non-First Peoples’ possession off the reservation.
True … but there isn’t enough manpower in the RCMP or OPP to police every rez boundary like that. It would be an exercise in futility.
Supply and demand.
