Buying fags is a nightmare at the moment.

[EssieTregowan]

I know, I know. But it is. They're all changing over to the same sludge green packaging.

Which means all the shops are winding down their stock so they never have the cigs I want. None of the staff anywhere know what the new packaged ones are.

The fags I bought yesterday have turned out to be 'crush ball' ones which means if you squeeze the filter they turn menthol. Boak.

It's almost enough to make me quit.

Bugger. That's probably the point.

Whinge whinge whinge. AIBU?

I think they will ban it, just working up to it. It's so addictive and damaging I can't understand why they haven't already.

Hate walking behind someone who's having a fag and having to take a lung full in before I can get around them.

My dm has COPD as an heredited disease, not a smoker, so I may too. I do get pissed off with smokers blowing the stink around.

I would be happy for smoking to be banned and for alcohol consumption to be greatly reduced. Bet then I would say that. I've never smoked and drink about three glasses of wine a year. Just need some for cooking really.

I quit when I moved to Oz ..the packaging has been like that for years, it's grim! Plus a pack of fags is $35 (£17)!!!! £7 in the UK..bloody bargain!

To be upfront -
I vape - I haven't given up smoking. It just it gradually dwindled to one cigarette a day - half in the morning, half before bed - then I started forgetting ...so I've not smoked a cigarette for a few days now.

I do smoke more when I am on holiday etc - as they are still more convenient and reliable for a nicotine hit.
The last cigarettes I bought were 200 duty free last July and I still have a whole packet and maybe 4-5 left. I started vaping a couple of years ago - mainly cost of the cost difference - and it took me a while, and stop starting (and a few purchases) to get me into the situation I am now - where I more or less prefer vaping to cigarettes. (And over the years I have been playing with vaping I have saved ££££ - thousands - and smoked I worked out 12,000 less cigarettes).

I have never been convinced that the government actually wanted people to quit smoking . As others have said -even ignoring the pensions aspect - tobacco tax puts a lot more money into the economy than smokers cost the NHS...those figures are even on ASH's website. The only way ASH can make it that smoking has a negative impact on government finance is by taking into account things like time spent on smoking breaks etc - which is really grasping at straws...and the tobacco income doesn't include duty free/black market cigarettes...

I am pretty sure the government will start heavily taxing vaping soon...they more or less have to ...even though it is 90+% safer than smoking (and I've been told that by Drs -when eg I've said I smoke - well actually vape now - and they have said great!)
Which is a pity as it does help people to stop smoking - even if like me they didn't really plan to. And I tried countless ways of stopping smoking that just didn't work - I can't believe I don't miss cigarettes...I used to cry without them... I have a psychological and physical addiction, used them as a reward - also I have been recently diagnosed with ADHD and nicotine has been trialled as a treatment for that... which explains a lot too...

Glad alcohol IS highly addictive - more additive than nicotine and cocaine - only heroin beats it.
www.addictioncenter.com/community/these-are-the-5-most-addictive-substances-on-earth/

And you can be addicted to alcohol and never get drunk...(I had a flat mate who used to come home and have a couple of beers every night - fine. The reason I knew they were an alcoholic is if they didn't have beer for whatever reason they would raid the flat trying to find alcohol - do things like drink someone else's vodka kept in the freezer (and water it down to try and cover it up) Now with more relaxed licensing laws they would I guess just go out and buy some...)
I used to work with an alcoholic - and work split shifts. Every afternoon I would go to the pub with them to keep them company -and have one vodka or a glass of wine. Fine - until we had a disastrous day - I was late finishing and got more and more upset/angry - this is so awful I need a drink. I found myself heading to the store cupboard to have a swig of booze...stopped myself as the penny dropped - it was because by then I had had my fix - and although I'd had a bad day it was only so terrible and I was handling it so badly, getting so bad tempered because of my craving for alcohol... so as a parent I would have been getting stroppy with the kids...

Isn't that bit apples and oranges though Unlucky. If you're an alcoholic it's more addictive, and most people who drink wouldn't be alcoholics whereas most people who smoke are addicted.

A relative of mine a few years ago in her early 80s quit smoking cold turkey when she suddenly realised how much it was actually costing her.

The loss of revenue will be compensated for by the reduction on the massive drain on the NHS

Which will in turn be compensated for by the increase in amount of people living to their 90s and requiring more years of state pension.

The thing is everyone who smokes knows the risks of it anyway so what do they think they are going to achieve?

I doubt any 13 year old thinks "oh that's a pretty box I think I will start smoking" so it's hardly going to be a deterrent there either.

There'll be no more bringing home thousands of cheap fags and alcohol from the booze cruise to Calais or from Spain and the Canaries when Brexit happens. Tariffs galore and a tiny Duty Free Allowance going forward.

I think that's behind Brexit. Keep all the excise duty here.

That was lighthearted BTW.

People have taken drugs for thousands of years. I cant get judgemental about it.
Yes I know about the health risks. I quit smoking 5 years ago. It wasnt health warnings or green packets that prompted me to do it.

to those that commented on my previous post I very clearly stated the direct act in the presnce of another & I was deliberatly very specific, which you have missed i.e. that simply by being present when people are smoking can have a direct impact on your health whither you are connected to the people smoking or nor. I was not in any way suggesting there werent other potential consequences of alcohol consumption & I am well aware of the misery that alcoholism can wreck on the lives of alcholics & their families. It is also true that many (most?)
people who use alcohol are able to do so in moderation.

*Today 13:07 Trifleorbust

Never smoked and hate the smell, but I also hate the vilification of people engaged in a perfectly legal activity. Live and let live (ish).*

This

I don't smoke and never have

Vile, disgusting habit and breathing in other people's second hand smoke in years gone by has damaged my lungs

I work in my local shop, and the abuse I am getting sometimes because the price has gone up on the new packs or because we don't have some of the ten packs anymore is incredible

Not my fault, and if new prices or anything else to do with the new packaging encourages someone to give up then good!

We have a tiny area outside to sit on our breaks, but the smokers monopolise it so can't even sit there on nice evenings

And before anyone says it

No, I don't drink alcohol either

Erm, surely if they sell you the wrong cigarettes you can return them, complain and then they give you what you asked for??? (Non smoker, have never bought any, may be missing something...)

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/28/plain-packaging-graphic-warning-alcohol-craft-drinks-sanctimonious-health-experts?client=safari

This recent article suggests similar regulations may come to alcohol.

My heart bleeds.....I deal with lung cancer patients and I'm sure the majority of them wished they'd never started smoking

The loss of revenue will be compensated for by the reduction on the massive drain on the NHS.

That's a complete myth. Non smokers live several years longer, and those extra years cost vastly more to the NHS than the cost of treating smoking related illnesses. Not to mention housing, pensions etc.

Not a smoker but YANBU what a pain in the arse.

four I suspect a lot more people are addicted to alcohol than realise it...and that their addiction affects their behaviour more than they realise...
(I know as a smoker and a nicotine addict - I get ratty/have less patience when I want a fag...and I am aware I am an addict...)
I don't drink on my own etc - am very careful about when and how I drink - I don't want to be an alcoholic (the idea of never being able to have a glass of champagne at a celebration etc) ...and I think it is pretty easy to become one... Smoking is not socially acceptable now -but drinking is...

Shout me down for this but... it's tragic cigarettes were ever invented. As a tiny child, I watched my grandfather died a horrible slow lung cancer death at the beginning of what should have been a well deserved retirement. Cigarette sales benefit tobacco companies and have made many people very rich. It's so sad that millions are addicted to this shocking drug. Congratulations to those who have successfully given up smoking. I admire your strength in overcoming something so addictive. Good luck to those still trying. Persevere because it really is worth it.

I don't care about the pictures, I know smoking causes all those things.

But I'm going to buy the cigarettes, all the plain packaging does is make it harder for the shop assistant to serve me, it's not going to discourage me from smoking, just piss off some poor person working in retail - like that wasn't already a thankless enough job.

Australia's decline in smokers accelerated after they brought in the khaki packets.

Relatively, young Australians do not smoke as it's seen as very uncool and unappealing. In my state, they made it impossible to have a drink with a fag as you could only smoke in a designated outside area and you couldn't take your drink with you. The association was totally broken for anyone currently 35 & under. The horrible packaging has only cemented that trend.

I was actually marvelling this week at the number of people I see smoking < 30 in London as it's pretty hard to argue that you didn't know smoking was addictive/bad for you at that age. There has to be a lifestyle element to it which is what the packaging seeks to (partially) address.

"Australia's decline in smokers accelerated after they brought in the khaki packets."

They're all probably still in shops, trying to find the right brand...