...and realize that the more they try and ban things (like vaping) - the bigger the underground movement inevitably becomes.
I smoked cigs for 35 years - the last 10 years of which I bought illegal, tax-free 'native' cigarettes from a local Native reserve. Almost everyone I know buys their cigs from Native reserves (or from friends who mule for them). Why? As everyone knows - because the gov't taxation on non-Native cigarette brands is incredibly astronomical to afford.
i.e. - a large pack of DuMaurier king size in a convenience store is over $10 - compared to $1.75 for a pack of Native rollies. I'd buy a carton of Native smokes for $14 - compared to about $80 for name brand in the local variety store.
The result - a huge underground movement of people illegally buying the Native smokes. The savings were worth the risk of getting caught.
I read somewhere not long ago that in Chicago during the Prohibition era (1920-1933) - the number of illegal back-alley bars and speakeasys increased ten-fold. Alcohol consumption in major cities actually increased. Organized crime flourished with alcohol production, distribution and smuggling.
Today - ask anyone who lives in a border town in Canada where they commonly buy their alcohol. A large percentage will tell you they go across the border into the U.S. to pay a fraction of the price. My wife and routinely cross over to Buffalo, NY to buy beer ($26 for 24 Corona - compared to $46 here in Canada).
Simple economics.
Is this the road the government wants to take with vaping, too? Can they be that damned stupid?
What of the old adage - those who don't take a lesson from history are doomed to repeat it.
I smoked cigs for 35 years - the last 10 years of which I bought illegal, tax-free 'native' cigarettes from a local Native reserve. Almost everyone I know buys their cigs from Native reserves (or from friends who mule for them). Why? As everyone knows - because the gov't taxation on non-Native cigarette brands is incredibly astronomical to afford.
i.e. - a large pack of DuMaurier king size in a convenience store is over $10 - compared to $1.75 for a pack of Native rollies. I'd buy a carton of Native smokes for $14 - compared to about $80 for name brand in the local variety store.
The result - a huge underground movement of people illegally buying the Native smokes. The savings were worth the risk of getting caught.
I read somewhere not long ago that in Chicago during the Prohibition era (1920-1933) - the number of illegal back-alley bars and speakeasys increased ten-fold. Alcohol consumption in major cities actually increased. Organized crime flourished with alcohol production, distribution and smuggling.
Today - ask anyone who lives in a border town in Canada where they commonly buy their alcohol. A large percentage will tell you they go across the border into the U.S. to pay a fraction of the price. My wife and routinely cross over to Buffalo, NY to buy beer ($26 for 24 Corona - compared to $46 here in Canada).
Simple economics.
Is this the road the government wants to take with vaping, too? Can they be that damned stupid?
What of the old adage - those who don't take a lesson from history are doomed to repeat it.
