Reading in our local paper about how the authorities raided a house, a few streets away from me, and discovered a tonne of illicit tobacco. I wonder how they managed to put a tonne inside a house, or had a garage completely filled, but it does raise an arguement. Indeed, a TV advertisement was broadcast stating that if you buy cheap alcohol or cigarettes, you are funding organised crime.
This is a fair arguement but step back and look at the situation realistically. Who has brought this black market to the fore? That`s right. The Government. With tax, tax, tax, tax, how can people afford them? "We`ll get people to stop. We`ll tax them them out of it." However, this does not seem to have broken through the greed-addled minds of ministers, that many ordinary people are not footballers, bankers or showbiz stars. They struggle to make a living and buying cheap cigs & booze is a way of enjoying a little something. Why are so many pubs closed? Why are more people having drinks at home? Because they do not have the money to throw around. It might look as if we are a nation of pissheads on the cop documentaries that are on TV all the time. Yes, there are people who can go and piss it up, but there are many who work long and hard in return for a pittance. Buying from a illicit supplier is one way of having something, but crying that you are funding crime does not work. When are we going to see adverts and out and out campaigns against drug pushers? These people ARE organised crime and these parasites inflict more damage and harm to people and communities than somebody buying cheap cigs. But with all this talk constantly being bandied about that drugs should be legalised, obviously they are thinking of all the lovely money pouring in from addicts, and those after a "buzz." These illicit suppliers are not pouring money into the coffers of the Exchequer, so they are obviously bad boys.
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