Mark Morri: ‘Why I break the law and buy black market cigarettes’

As a rule I try not to break the law but I’m now doing it weekly — like a lot of lawyers and police officers I know who smoke, writes Mark Morri. TAKE OUR POLL on illegal cigarettes.

Opinion: As a rule I try not to break the law, but it might be argued I’m now doing it on a weekly basis — like a lot of lawyers and police officers I know who smoke.

I buy under-the-counter black market cigarettes for a fraction of the price of other cigarettes.

As the price of cigarettes kept climbing, the temptation to buy these smokes became harder and harder to resist.

A few months ago, a retired cop I know, who was anti-drugs and helped lock up plenty of gangsters who made fortunes selling illegal substances including tobacco, admitted he was buying what he called “covert durries” at his local tobacconist.

“They are $20 and the quality is good. They are not illegal smokes, they are simply untaxed cigarettes. Smoking is legal … not paying tax isn’t,’’ he said, justifying himself.

Next, a lawyer told me the same thing, sent along a photo of his favourite cheapie brand and calculated he had saved more than $10,000 in the past year.

As for me, instead of $65 for 25 cigarettes I’m now paying $20 a pack for a brand that appears to be legitimate and sold overseas.

 

No one I know wants to smoke, but many older people were well and truly addicted before massive health campaigns really highlighted the dangers.

Patches, gum, threats from doctors — and even having a stent — hasn’t stopped me.

Cheap smokes are so easy to get, most tobacco shops don’t even blink when you ask for certain brands, which they will give to you – literally from under the counter.

There are a few who don’t stock them, but not a lot.

More and more people are turning to smoking the black market cigarettes as getting vapes becomes harder and more expensive — and the problem will only get worse.

“A vape was $20 a couple of years ago, and you could get them everywhere.

“Now they are $35 or $40 and less places seem to have them, I’m thinking of going to the cheap smokes,‘’ said an ardent vaper I know.

The solution? Don’t smoke.

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