Tobacco.org

• CABE: Going up without the smoke 

Need a nicotine hit? Want to beat the smoking ban? A smokeless cigarette could be the answer, for the long - or short - haul. Just be prepared for some funny looks, writes ROSEMARY Mac CABE . . .

Ryanair now sells the other most popular type, in the form of Similar smokeless cigarettes.

Ryanair's head of communications, Stephen McNamara, says the product was introduced due to customer demand. "Some passengers can find it stressful to spend long journeys without a cigarette so we introduced the product based on customer feedback and to cater to passenger demand. It seemed a logical step to introduce a product that could provide smokers with relief from nicotine withdrawal. . . .

I spent a day with Ryanair's Similar branded smokeless cigarettes: a packet of 10, purchased for €6 on board a Ryanair flight, to see how it feels to smoke on the right side of the law.

The first thing I notice is that they smell, to all intents and purposes, like what one's mother might call "sucky sweets" - irrefutably better than mainstream cigarettes, albeit slightly strange. They feel like real cigarettes and, crucially, they look like them. . . .

Smoking a cigarette that looks like a cigarette, acts like a cigarette but neither tastes nor feels like a cigarette (while giving you more nicotine than a cigarette) seems an odd choice.

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Customs seize 12 million cigarettes  

CUSTOMS officers have delivered a double blow to the finances of organised crime gangs shipping large hauls of smuggled cigarettes into the State.

Officers seized almost 12 million cigarettes -- worth nearly €5m -- in two separate consignments after they had been brought into Dublin Port.

Officers said last night that one of the latest hauls had been destined for the black market in the North. The Regal brand cigarettes arrived at the port in a 45-ft container from Barcelona.

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Up to 6m cigarettes seized near border 

A man is being questioned following the seizure of between 5m and 6m cigarettes near Dundalk last night.

The cigarettes were hidden on a container which came from Barcelona to Dublin Port last week.

They were concealed in 25 wrapped pallets along with empty boxes, and according to the documentation the 45 foot cargo was said to contain 'hair extensions'.

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Latest cigarettes seizures worth €4.8m  

THE LATEST seizures by Customs of some 12 million cigarettes in two hauls have a combined retail value of €4.8 million.

The consignments came through Dublin Port in recent days. On Monday, between five million and six million cigarettes were seized by Customs officers near Dundalk, Co Louth.

The Regal brand cigarettes were hidden in a container which arrived into Dublin Port from Barcelona last week. The tobacco was labelled on the manifest as "hair extensions" and was hidden in 25 pallets with empty boxes.

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LETTER: Let's be like the Irish, ban indoor smoking  

It is disheartening that the leaders of Indianapolis are hesitating to pass the smoking ban in public establishments. . . . who will pick up the tab of those sick from smoke exposure who are uninsured and either choose to smoke or opt to expose others to their smoking? The answer is, every taxpayer.

On a recent visit to Ireland, a country at the top of the list with the number of bars per square mile, I discovered this country had banned smoking in taverns. The taverns were crowded and people didn't mind stepping outside for a smoke. People were enjoying the music, beer and hospitality. Indiana, step up to the plate and be progressive for once.

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Customs seize €4.8m contraband cigarette hauls 

Customs officials were tonight counting more than 12 million smuggled cigarettes seized in two massive hauls.

The tobacco, which had a street value of €4.8m, was discovered in separate loads at Dublin Port.

Half of the cigarettes had been labelled as hair extensions and arrived from Barcelona packed on to 25 pallets.

The Regal brand haul was trailed for seven days before a driver with the container was stopped at a checkpoint at the M1 Dundalk South turn-off last night.

An Irish man detained at the scene was later released and is said to be helping customs with their investigations.

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• Irish seize 12 million cigarettes, arrest smuggler  

Irish police and customs officials said Tuesday they have uncovered two cigarette-smuggling plots and seized more than 12 million cigarettes shipped from Spain and Vietnam.

The legal street value of the cigarettes was euro4.8 million ($7 million), including euro3.7 million in potential tax revenue to Ireland, said customs spokeswoman Sarah Cox.

The country imposes the highest tobacco taxes in the European Union, making it a smugglers' paradise for thousands involved in shipping and selling illegal imports and counterfeit cigarettes.

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‘No evidence’ that tobacco ad ban linked to smuggling increase  

Officials today rejected claims that the removal of point of sale advertising and display of tobacco products in shops has led to an increase in tobacco smuggling.

The Office of Tobacco Control (OTC) has said that there is no evidence to back up the claims.

“We have to stick with the facts and the facts are that there is no basis for any link between recent tobacco control measures and smuggling,“ said OTC Chief Executive Eamonn Rossi.

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Massive €4m haul is latest blow for tobacco smugglers  

Customs officers yesterday claimed to have dealt another major blow to black-market crime gangs after seizing a second multi-million cigarette haul in just over two weeks.

A massive eight tonnes of tobacco leaf, ready to be rolled into 12 million cigarettes, was discovered coming through Dublin Port on Monday.

Rather than impound the container, customs officers tailed a 40ft lorry carrying the €4m contraband cargo to a warehouse in Monaghan.

No arrests were made but customs officers said investigations into the criminals behind the smuggling operation are taking place in Ireland and internationally.

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• ICS seeks €1 hike for cigarettes 

The Irish Cancer Society is urging the Government to increase the tax on cigarettes by €1 in the forthcoming budget in order to fund the fight against tobacco smuggling.

The organisation denies that an increase in the price of cigarettes would increase the sale of cheap smuggled tobacco.

“High price is not the problem. The problem is that the courts aren’t imposing high enough penalties, there aren’t enough disincentives and a key piece is that the Revenue does not have the resources it needs,” said Kathleen O’Meara, head of advocacy with the Irish Cancer Society.

Smuggling remains a problem in countries such as Turkey where cigarettes are cheap, she said.

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Cancer Society demands €1 hike in price of cigarettes 

The Irish Cancer Society is calling on the Government to increase the price of a packet of cigarettes by €1.

It says that the revenue from the price hike could then be put towards tackling the problem of tobacco smuggling.

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Customs seize tobacco worth €4m 

Customs officers have seized a multi-million euro shipment of smuggled tobacco in Co Monaghan.

Eight tonnes of tobacco leaf believed destined for a cigarette-making plant in the Border area was discovered in the operation yesterday, along with paraphenalia for manufacturing cigarettes such as filters and packaging material.

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Eight tonnes of tobacco leaf seized 

Eight tonnes of tobacco leaf, which represents an estimated loss to Revenue of €4m, has been seized in Co Monaghan.

Customs officers seized the consignment and paraphernalia required to manufacture up to 12m cigarettes from a 40ft-container, which had arrived via Holyhead into Dublin Port on Monday.

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Pete Robinson: Smoke signals from Ireland 

To get a glimpse of things to come we need look no further than a few miles across the water to Ireland, where a number of new reports have surfaced. Curiously they've all failed to appear in the ASH Daily News.

The worst of these is pub closures which, over the last five years, have reached a depressing 1,500 outside Dublin. . . .'' On the contrary Irish smoking rates have RISEN yet again! New figures from the EU show they are now at 33% - the highest for 11 years. That's up 6% since the inception of their smoking ban.

However as I've argued before bans increase smoking numbers, forbidden fruits and all that. So had the pre-ban trend been allowed to continue Irish smoking rates would today be below 22%.

Meanwhile Ireland has witnessed an epidemic of grand-scale cigarette smuggling so there's not even any revenue gains. The EU survey also revealed that today the largest group of smokers - 45% - is aged between 16 and 30, significantly the main target group of the original de-normalisation program. . . .

Yet still the health fascists trumpet Ireland's smoking ban as some kind of 'success', being held up as a model all over the world. Ireland's ASH-equivalent, the Research Institute for a Tobacco Free Society, insist that bar workers health has 'improved' and are calling for even heavier taxes and legislation.

So there you have it. The only reason your livelihood is under threat is to feed the spiteful, insatiable arrogance of these nannying do-gooders. You've already had your behaviour 'corrected' by the hate-mob and lost vital trade as a result.

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Illegal tobacco raid ‘too soon’  

Investigators acted prematurely in raiding a warehouse in Co Louth that had just accepted part of a consignment of 120m illegal cigarettes last week, a security source has claimed.

Suspects were not given time to unload or examine the haul, which was hidden inside bales of animal feed, the security source said. When gardai and customs officers entered, the suspects indicated that they did not know anything about the contraband, which remained hidden.

Security sources fear any gap in the chain of evidence could hinder any possible prosecutions.

There may have been other operational reasons for the timing of the raid. A spokesman for the Revenue Commissioners said that it was not policy to comment on operational matters.

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