TICAP, The Hague, March 15th 2010

Monday, August 31, 2009

Revealed: £2bn cost to UK from cigarette smuggling

By Blad Tolstoy

Well, we told you so. Yes, read all about it, the whole sorry story about the massive increase in cigarette smuggling going on in the UK.

The whole thing is presented here, the smuggled and counterfeit tobacco market is booming:

Cost to UK from cigarette smuggling - Daily Telegraph

Will they be able to control it? Not on your nelly. The war against drugs has failed, so what do they expect will happen with a product millions of times more popular?

Prohibition and excessive taxation always opens doors for criminals.

When will the politicians learn the lessons? The war against smokers is now a guaranteed failure.

Am I pleased? From one perspective, yes, in that it's satisfying to be proved right (yet again). From another perspective, no, why would anyone wish to encourage the growth of criminal markets and what about safeguarding young people from mixing with criminals?

Anyway read on...