Cigarettes

[depressed beyond tablets]

We got this in Ireland. For the kids they say. Is it a good idea or a bad one?

Personally, I'd like to be able to buy them in ones (again).

[Blumf]

Never mind fags, I want to buy a big sodding bottle of aspirin, one that'd last me for years, but nooooo you can only get shitty little 16-packs. Fucking suicidal people, use a bloody noose!

Not exactly sure how having 10-packs of cigs will help the kiddies, smaller box fit's in their coat pockets?

[SetToStun]

Never mind fags, I want to buy a big sodding bottle of aspirin, one that'd last me for years, but nooooo you can only get shitty little 16-packs. Fucking suicidal people, use a bloody noose!

Then what happens when you need a new clothes-line, Mr. Cleverclogs? You'd have to assemble one from hundreds of two-inch pieces, that's what.

Anyway, back on topic, what's the purpose of it? Is the idea to cut back on kids smoking by only having the more expensive packs of 20 available? Surely they'd just club together and share them out.

[hencole]

Sorry do you mean Ireland are only going to sell in packs of 20? If they only sold them in packs of 10 surely people would smoke less? I'd much prefer if you could buy single cigarettes which I believe used to happen.

Give someone an adictive substance and they will consume it all so your best bet is to limit the amounts that can be bought. Same thing with cannabis, rather than having to buy half an ounce that you really don't want, but you'll consume it all anyway, I'd rather be able to buy a spliff at a time from the local corner shop. So in conclusion the idea will have a worse effect on public health and shows a complete lack of understanding.

[Baxter]

I'm not sure it was ever technically legal to buy singles it was just something shop owners did and no one really cared.

I think I've only bought a pack of ten twice in my life while smoking because they didn't have my brand in packs of 20 at the time, actually I recall talking to QKI at a meet a while ago about how we both started on roll-your-own cigarettes anyway so it doesn't really make any difference, as far as I'm aware that is pretty common (in the "most widely known; ordinary" sense of the word, not the "unrefined or coarse in manner" sense, but both are true).

[hencole]

Well yeah young people smoke roll ups, then when they get jobs they smoke fags, then they retire and smoke roll ups again. And so the circle of life continues.

[Beagle 2]

I haven't smoked anything since FA cup final day, and not for a week or two before that, and it's going pretty well so far, but when I was I always always bought packs of ten for years because I was so convinced that every pack was just a little treat, and would probably be my last anyway. Every day. It's quite feeble how you can delude yourself. No, don't sell 'em in singles, surely Hencole the only people who don't want to just buy a pack as they're smokers anyway are kids trying them for the first time, and this is gonna give them easier access? Tramps I suppose too. And me, when I'm pissed and I think it's ok to just have one, I don't want the temptation.

Eventually graduated to rollies anyway, they taste a thousand times better. I'm gonna get some in for Glastonbury, more deluding I guess, the plan is to go back to quitting straight after, hmm.

[Egyptian Feast]

I started off on regular cigarettes when I was still at school, and only started on the rollies when I moved to the UK years later. I was pretty skint and the best fags I could afford were Mayfairs. I made the decision to switch to baccy when I kept finding little strands of the filters sticking out of my tongue. That was pretty off-putting (as was the fact that Mayfairs taste shit). I switched to baccy nearly 10 years ago and haven't been bothered to switch back, though I like regular fags when I'm drinking.

The best thing about smoking rolling tobacco is of course that, despite being a needlessly expensive addiction, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than smoking regular fags. I got 20 50-gram packs duty free recently and they lasted me four months. The amount of money I saved (and subsequently spent on more practical addictions like records and DVDs) was ridiculous. We really get shafted over here with the cost of fags, but we still smoke, and a lot of us will still smoke after the smoking ban comes in. Withdrawing 10 packs will do nothing but make people buy more 20 packs. I've always found that 10 packs last me pretty much the same amount of time as a 20 pack. I tend to be more economical when I have less of an item (weed springs to mind) and eke it out longer. I get rid of a 20 pack within a few hours of entering the pub. 

[depressed beyond tablets]

The idea is to make it harder for kids to get the money together. I think that's codswallop. If I could only buy beer in crates I might just drink a bit more.

My dad says that when he was about 10 he could play games in the arcades and sometimes the prize was a cigarette. That's how he started.

[Pseudopath]

They should do pick 'n' mix fags in Woolies.

[El Unicornio, mang]

They only sell them in packs of 20 here.  I remember going to the 7-11 when I first moved here and asked for "20 Camel Lights" and the woman said "You want 20 packs of Camel Lights??"

[Sebastian Dangerfield]

Ireland's warnings on cigarette packets struck me before England's did.  They had that "Smokers Die Younger" emblem before we did.  It was hideous.

[Egyptian Feast]

My favourite warning is: "Smoke contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide". I don't know what half those things are, but all those big words almost make smoking seem clever.

[Cambrian Times]

I gave up smoking 9 months ago.

Do I feel any healthier?

No.

[Pseudopath]

I gave up smoking 9 months ago.

Do I feel any healthier?

No.

Ironically, non-smokers seem to get a lot more colds and flus. There's no actual evidence for that statement, just years of observation. Perhaps smokers save up all their sick days for the chemotherapy.

[purlieu]

20 packs only would make my job a bloody load easier.

"Sorry, we only sell them in 20s"/"Sorry, we only have 10s, would you like two?"/"Why on earth do you want two 20 packs rather than a double 40 pack which is CHEAPER?"

[Rev]

a double 40 pack

A what?

[chocky909]

Was (I quit 2 years back) I the only one here that always insisted the shop charge me the same price for two 10pks if they had sold out of 20s?

[Joy Nktonga]

I asked if they'd do that for me in Tesco a while back pointing out they were selling me exactly what I was asking for and it wasn't my fault that they had to provide it in two packs of ten. I was only being cheeky and didn't really expect a positive response but they were so arsey with their answer that we ended up having a blazing row over it. I didn't even care that much - as I said, I was really only chancing it - but the guy on the counter was such a tosser about it that it riled me.

[purlieu]

A what?

Haha, badly described.
"40 Benson Gold please"
So I give them one of those packs that has two 20 packs in, for about 50p cheaper than two separate 20 packs.
"No, two 20s please"
"But this is cheaper"
"I'd rather have two packs of 20"
Fuck off.

[rudi]

They should do pick 'n' mix fags in Woolies.

Ooh god no.

You'd inevitably end up with a couple of B&H.

Yech...

[Pseudopath]

Ooh god no.

You'd inevitably end up with a couple of B&H.

Yech...

Ha ha! Bensons - the sure sign of the plebeian smoker.

I'm an Embassy No.1 man myself. Makes me feel like an ambassador or something.

[chocky909]

  Haha, badly described.
"40 Benson Gold please"
So I give them one of those packs that has two 20 packs in, for about 50p cheaper than two separate 20 packs.
"No, two 20s please"
"But this is cheaper"
"I'd rather have two packs of 20"
Fuck off.

Any pics anyone? Is it just a very small multipack?

[Pseudopath]

Any pics anyone? Is it just a very small multipack?

If you'd asked me an hour ago, I could have taken a pic of 40 Embassy No.1 (two packs shrinkwrapped together like a 100 pack) for you, but I've already broken into them. All I can say is that they seem to be more prevalent at all-night petrol stations. My local Texaco (M40 J11, first left) has a wide range of them clearly visible over the counter.

EDIT: Ha ha! I was trying to find you a picture on the Internet and came across this excellent cigarette advert: http://www.bambootrading.com/4100/4142.jpg

[Rev]

I've never encountered such a thing before, and despite purlieu's explanation, it still seems like some kind of secret that's been deliberately kept from me.  So it's just two boxes shrinkwrapped together?  I'm slightly disappointed.

My dad says that when he was about 10 he could play games in the arcades and sometimes the prize was a cigarette. That's how he started.

Meant to pick up on this earlier:  there's a steam fair that crops up in Hertfordshire occasionally - and tours the country, I'd imagine - that carries on this fine tradition with bagatelle machines that vend you a single cigarette should your efforts with your 2p stake be successful.  Anyone with mad bagatelle skillz could clean right up, as that's pretty cheap however you look at it.

[Pseudopath]

it's just two boxes shrinkwrapped together?  I'm slightly disappointed.

Essentially, yes, but the shrinkwrap does have the packet design printed on it, so it looks like a peculiarly-deep pack of fags. I agree that it would be much cooler to have all 40 cigs in the one box though.

[hencole]

Ironically, non-smokers seem to get a lot more colds and flus. There's no actual evidence for that statement, just years of observation. Perhaps smokers save up all their sick days for the chemotherapy.

I've been saying this for years, and whilst it sounds ridiculous to most the difference seems quite startling. I reckon the reason is that as smokers lungs are covered in tar, so those pesky germs can't penetrate.

[purlieu]

Ha ha! Bensons - the sure sign of the plebeian smoker.

Racist!


(Living in a predominantly Muslim area, it is perhaps of interest to note that Benson Gold are the only choice of the Muslim gentleman.  I have no idea why).

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Dispensing cigarettes to the general public for a bit, I found Raffles and De Stuyvesant (sp?) to be the mark of the more sophisticated smoker.

[purlieu]

Working in a Sainsbury's convenience store, we don't have anything of that quality.

We do, however, sell Dorchester Superkings.  Which nobody has ever bought since the shop open.  I reckon they've gone off by now.