The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
First the good.
Their plans for minimum pricing have taken a bit of a hammering. The EU in all its vast wisdom has decided this is unfair trading or something. However there is a strong hint that if the gubmint want to increase taxes on booze then it's fine by them.
So expect a massive hike in tax on alcohol in the near future.
Then the bad.
The EU in all its vast wisdom has decided that "plain packaging" for tobacco is OK. Needless to say the Puritans in Tobacco Control are wetting themselves in delight and crowing about all the lives that are going to be saved. They reckon that 5,200 people die every year from "tobacco related diseases" so doubtless 7,000 of those [at the very least] are going to be "saved".
Mind you, the EU has only said that its own directive is OK, which involves splashing lurid images over two thirds of the package whereas Tobacco Control want the whole lot covered so they may be a tad premature in their celebrations yet.
“The European Courts have given a massive Christmas gift to the Irish people. It’s time now to press ahead and ensure that 2016 marks a significant moment in the tobacco endgame.”
So sticking medical porn on cigarette packets is a significant moment in the tobacco endgame? I very much doubt it. All it will do is introduce massive confusion at the tobacconist counter and a heyday for the counterfeiters. Speaking personally all it involves is having to double check every pack of baccy I buy, and once that's done the baccy goes into my leather pouch and their lurid porn goes straight in the bin. I might start a collection of their porn though. I just hope they come up with some new ones as the old ones are more than a little stale.
Oh yes. The title says "The Good the Bad and the Ugly" but I haven't mentioned the ugly bit yet?
If ever a face deserved a good pummeling it's that one. The question is whether it would make it uglier or would it be an improvement?
I doubt anything could improve that face apart from a good burial. As a doctor, I could no more imagine myself telling him confidential stuff even if my life depended on it, and as Minister for Children I wouldn't let him within a mile of the grandkids. He is just plain fucking creepy.
Don't know why you don't grow your own. As I keep saying to my comercial horticulturlist letice and tomato growing neighbours – but do they listen? No. Rather pay £££££ an ounce, even "imported".
When I used to smoke I loved French baccee – I'm sure you could grow same in EI or UK. And F**k the taxman and prohibitionists at the same time.
Have a happy pipey smokey Christmas 🙂
Time to seriously consider expanding my horticultural experiences all right. Having said that, it looks complicated – especially the curing part. Herself might object to my taking over the house for several years while the leaves cure?
Our government could compromise imaginatively. It could insist on plain packaging for bottled beer and wine, and no tax increase. They could say that plain labels for Chateau Neuf de Plonk Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée would decrease purchases. We know that this is false psychology, but the puritans might be satisfied. Progressive wine shops would have supplies of authentic chateau labels and pack them along with the bottles for purchasers to stick on over the plain labels when they get home. May you enjoy cheap plonk for Christmas, whether Contrôlée or not. It's the taste that counts, not the bloody chateau label. Same goes for craft beers.
I think there would be uproar if they tried changing the labels on the more expensive plonk. It's all right for the lower orders to suffer the ignominy of warning graphics but not for the upper classes, surely?
I shall forsake the vino [it's not number one on my favourite tipple list] and shall take comfort in demolishing a bottle or two of fine Irish whiskey. And fuck the begrudgers, as we say!
Like you, GD, I'm way ahead of the game on plain packaging, insofar as I too have a leather tobacco pouch. It's even an unappealing tan colour.
So I reckon my life should be saved several times over, eh?
The packs of tobacco and cigs here don't actually have any pictures on them, just writing in some unintelligible language. It's all Greek to me.
I wonder why no one has ever taken them to task under the Trade Descriptions Act?
Take for example the little message on my baccy [which I am about to bin] – "Smoking clogs the arteries and causes heart attacks and strokes". Load of bollox. If they said "Smoking may clog the arteries and may cause heart attacks or strokes" I might have a little sympathy but stating an absolute is blatantly lying.
Well if you're going down that road, how about 'Smoking Kills'?
I honestly don't know how they continue to get away with it. The statement has as much validity as 'Eating Bacon Kills'.
Envisioning packages of bacon wrapped in plain brown paper marked, "Just Plain Bacon" in black text. I also wonder if the powers-that-be have come to the realization yet that the majority of bacon is smoked?
Yes ! I've got my new cigarette case. Throw all the crap packs away as soon as you've emptied them. Only trouble is brand choice will be severely reduced after May 2016.
Welcome Timothy! Indeed, the only time the packs will be visible is when you're transferring cigarettes into your case. A pointless exercise which is just going to cause massive confusion.
I wonder if they'll reverse the display ban so all the cheeeeldren will see their pretty little images?
I reckon the cheeldren are going to collect cigarette boxes for the lovely pics on them – swap them until they get the full set. They'll be rooting through bins to find what they are missing or good swaps. The more gruesome the better. They will also be buying their own in packs of twenty 'cause they can't get packs of ten anymore – so that should encourage them to smoke more.
I don't think you have to hang your baccy leaves all round your house – you can cure them in a curing box – neatly!
I noticed (in the article) that one of the so-called "plain packaged" cigarette boxes had an image of some poor sap's eye being held open by a couple of dental picks with a caption that stated, "Smoking causes blindness". Really? First time I've ever heard that one. I would think that having your eye held open by a couple of dental picks would be more of a cause for blindness than smoking?