• werty@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      A black market pack is $12 and noone I know buys legal cigarettes anymore. I’d love to know how they manage to smuggle in enough to meet the demand. The firebombings are an unpleasant side effect but the government loves the tax rake.

    • Gronk@aussie.zone
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      2 days ago

      Eh the tax on cigarettes increases every year I think it’s literally $2 a smoke now, it was 1.67 when I quit.

      I’m conflicted on this tax though, the money doesn’t go anywhere it should. Our healthcare services should be propped up with this money because smokers are actively damaging themselves causing increased stress on the medical system, it could also be put towards harm minimisation in general not just for smoking but all sorts of addictions

      But the government doesn’t actually care about this issue, if you look at the stance towards vaping it’s apparent that they tried this ban to prop up big tobacco considering the only ‘legal’ vapes on the market are manufactured by the big tobacco corporations

      The other issue is this tax is severely damaging for low socioeconomic areas in Australia, who already have a high amount of smokers. Lots of places just sell cheap imported cigarettes for 20 bucks now, so that money is going to some kind of organised crime.

      I just think it’s a form of prohibition that’s gotten out of hand, rather it should’ve been used to bootstrap and fund better infrastructure and policy around the issue.

      • Gold_E_Lox@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 days ago

        not them but yes, but i doubt the grocery prices are post covid. i buy very similar (cheap shitty) products and this would be much closer to 100 aud these days