Cigarette Smokers Switch to Cigars

[davidl]

Guys,

Last week a report was released that reported on a 123% rise in cigar\pipe tobacco use. The rise seems to be correlated with when taxation on cigarettes was raised. It seems like there is a trend of cigarette smoker that is moving to cigars and pipe use. The stats are being interpreted as Cigarette smokers substituting their habit with cigars and pipes.

I have to say, this is worrying me a lot. it won't be long before the authrities continue their ridiculous legislation making it it that much more difficult for us to enjoy a good cigar.

What kind of cigarette smoker substitutes their habit with cigars...? They are completely unrelated practices, and these guys are ruining the practice for us!

http://healthland.time.com/2012/08/02/cigarette-smokers-switch-to-cheaper-cigars-and-pipes/

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-08-02/smokers-in-u-dot-s-dot-switch-to-pipes-cigars-from-cigarettes

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/08/03/americans-quitting-cigarettes-but-turning-to-cigars/

[DrunkenMonkey]

'ruining the practice for us?'. Seems to me we should be happy for them, as they are replacing something harmful in their lives with something less harmful, and something much more enjoyable to boot. You think that the authorities will be more likely to come after cigar smoking because there are MORE people doing it??

[Colt45]

'ruining the practice for us?'. Seems to me we should be happy for them, as they are replacing something harmful in their lives with something less harmful, and something much more enjoyable to boot. You think that the authorities will be more likely to come after cigar smoking because there are MORE people doing it??

According to the reports, the "switchers" are using pipe tobacco to roll their own, and smoking small cigars - simply to avoid paying the higher cigarette

taxes. There is no mention as to whether they are inhaling or not (if I had to guess, I'd imagine they still do).

So it is suggested in these reports that all tobacco products should be taxed equally....

[DrunkenMonkey]

These guys have a right to buy whatever tobacco they want, and the taxes on them are no less wrong than the taxes on us. It's all wrong, and they're going to keep finding ways to come after us regardless. Blaming the cigarette smokers is wrong.

[Blakes]

If you take the prices of cigars sold in the UK i'd say they are already taxed WAY too much. For example take a bolivar BF, buying from a reputable internet vendor 1 cigar works out around five or six quid. (8 or so dollars) To buy from a UK shop the same stick is around £15 (23 dollars) That to me is crazy! I know i couldn't afford to smoke many cigars if i had to pay UK shop prices..

[yhuda]

As Colt45 said, the issue isn't so much that cigarette smokers are switching to cigars and pipes. After all, the more of us there are the merrier. The biggest problem I think, is that manufacturers, aware of the more lenient taxation on cigars and pipe tobaccos, begin re-packaging cigarettes and cigarette tobacco as cigars and pipe tobacco. This leads to products such as Djarum, known the world wide as a clove cigarette, being sold as a cigar here in NY. While personally, I'm all for the freedom to choose one's own habits in life and would like to see governments take a back seat, this blurring of what was once a clear line between fine tobacco products as cigars and pipe tobaccos and cigarettes, means that governments now attack on all fronts equally. As an example, once NY got wind of roll-your-own cigarette tobaccos being repackaged and sold as pipe tobacco, the pipe tobacco wholesale tax went up astronomically, well over 1000% in fact. So in the end what you have is cigarette smokers paying the same taxes they would have payed anyway, and cigar and pipe smokers made to suffer higher prices for the indiscretion of others. I guess the only good that may come of this trend is that perhaps some cigarette smokers are introduced to the finer side of tobacco and have their eyes opened to a completely different world outside the binds of nicotine dependency.

[DarkSky]

What kind of cigarette smoker substitutes their habit with cigars...? They are completely unrelated practices, and these guys are ruining the practice for us!

I completely substitute. Before I got into cigars, I'd enjoy a smoke (cigarette) while driving on long trips. I recently did a 13hr drive with my gf, which before I took up cigars, I'd probably have smoked 10 cigarettes. Instead, I had about 2 cigarettes. One when we first started, one later in the day. And I had a nice Perdomo Lot 23 cigar, and an Alec Bradley churchill later in the day on the drive.

The drive to our cottage is 2.5 hrs. I'd probably have 4-5 cigarettes on the trip. Now I MIGHT have 1, but the trip has turned into a perfect time for a cigar.

And as to your point that rising cigarette prices are causing people to turn to cigars, that's utter nonsense (no offense meant). Even at current cigarette prices you can get a WHOLE PACK of cigarettes for the price of a half decent cigar. A cigar that will last you an hour, a pack of cigarettes that will last a day or two. So they're still *WAY* cheaper than cigars. Trust me: nobody's switching because of the price.

Myself, even though cigar smoking is far more expensive than cigarette smoking, I use it as a relaxing alternative and try to fit in a cigar or pipe instead of a cigarette, whenever I can.

[DarkSky]

If you take the prices of cigars sold in the UK i'd say they are already taxed WAY too much. For example take a bolivar BF, buying from a reputable internet vendor 1 cigar works out around five or six quid. (8 or so dollars) To buy from a UK shop the same stick is around £15 (23 dollars) That to me is crazy! I know i couldn't afford to smoke many cigars if i had to pay UK shop prices..

I paid $190 for a box of Monte #2s in Cuba. That's $7.60 per cigar. Here in Canada (ontario) they're going for $27-30 per cigar.

So trust me, people in CANADA at least, are NOT switching to cigars because they're "cheaper". For the price of 3 good stogies I could buy a CARTON of cigarettes.

And I have no idea what they're talking about with this "7 cents per small cigar" stuff.

I've never seen them before now. Sound kind of interesting actually.

Edited August 6, 2012 by Colt45
Sources Removed

[kodebusan]

Back in the days, in France, i realized that i could smoke a petit Upmann (the discontinued one) and a Gispert Habaneros a day for cheaper than my daily pack of Craven A. And smoking 2 prestigious cigars a week only add a little bit more on my monthly tobacco budget.

Nowadays i could smoke a Piedra Petit cazadores and Majestic, Super partagas or PL Montecarlos for the same price or cheaper than a pack of cigies. Even better a PLPC or Half Corona would still be cheaper and left some a bigger once a week.

I definitely switch to cigars when i understood i could have good smoke for the same budget or a bit more.

Though i'm still smoking cigarette now and then (sometimes i have 2/3 months of addiction get back ) but in Cambodia a pack Deluxe greek cigarette is on 1$60...