4 ms·

Sure but be careful with the price increases. At some point, bootlegging/smuggling becomes worthwhile. Happened with cigarettes in Canada (organized by the toba

Sure but be careful with the price increases. At some point, bootlegging/smuggling becomes worthwhile. Happened with cigarettes in Canada (organized by the tobacco industry): https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/tobacco-firms-to-pay-550m-over-smuggling-1.902510 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/tobacco-firms-to-pay-550m-ove...

geodel 4y ago
No true scotsman will bootleg.
- triyambakam 4y ago
  Why not? I'm ignorant to Scottish culture
  - foundart 4y ago
    The remark is likely a joke, referring to the “no true Scotsman” fallacy. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman
  - ajkjk 4y ago
    I think it was an oblique joke.
- passwordoops 4y ago
  Now that you mention it, the price increase might only be impacting 19-year-old American backpackers
red-iron-pine 4y ago
Heard much the same about weed; often cheaper to buy from a local, uh, "specialist" than get nailed for higher taxes at retailers. 20 years ago your local specialist was had a lot of risk, too. Cops, guns, general shadiness, etc. Now most cops DGAF for anything under giant quantities, and even then it's a regulatory thing, so they're not tracking down the local weedman. No risk, and better prices.
mpsprd 4y ago
Tobacco in Canada is a complex subject. While I agree the infamously high prices of cigarettes in Canada go into play, I would argue that tax exempt cigarettes quotas in reserves[0] and the overall lack of oversight in Reserves creates a perfect haven for contraband, distribution of tax-free cigarettes and "indian smokes". its sad how the Indian Act is still in effect today and how politically impossible the situation is. I think that countries without these huge loopholes might see less problems from bootlegging as we see here. 0:https://www.ontario.ca/document/tobacco-tax/first-nations-cigarette-allocation-system https://www.ontario.ca/document/tobacco-tax/first-nations-ci...
somethoughts 4y ago
Don't really have any data to base this thought on, but it seems like there could be a (positive?) feedback loop - at least from the standpoint of legal players within a heavily taxed industry - where if high taxes were then used to prevent illegal players (bootleggers/smuggling) from entering the market of enforcing the existing laws. That way instead of general tax payers funding enforcement, it's the direct beneficiaries of the enforcement who are funding the effort. And they can decide how much they want to tax themselves.

geodel 4y ago

No true scotsman will bootleg.

triyambakam 4y ago
Why not? I'm ignorant to Scottish culture
- foundart 4y ago
  The remark is likely a joke, referring to the “no true Scotsman” fallacy. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman
- ajkjk 4y ago
  I think it was an oblique joke.
passwordoops 4y ago
Now that you mention it, the price increase might only be impacting 19-year-old American backpackers

red-iron-pine 4y ago

Heard much the same about weed; often cheaper to buy from a local, uh, "specialist" than get nailed for higher taxes at retailers. 20 years ago your local specialist was had a lot of risk, too. Cops, guns, general shadiness, etc. Now most cops DGAF for anything under giant quantities, and even then it's a regulatory thing, so they're not tracking down the local weedman. No risk, and better prices.

mpsprd 4y ago

Tobacco in Canada is a complex subject. While I agree the infamously high prices of cigarettes in Canada go into play, I would argue that tax exempt cigarettes quotas in reserves[0] and the overall lack of oversight in Reserves creates a perfect haven for contraband, distribution of tax-free cigarettes and "indian smokes". its sad how the Indian Act is still in effect today and how politically impossible the situation is. I think that countries without these huge loopholes might see less problems from bootlegging as we see here. 0:https://www.ontario.ca/document/tobacco-tax/first-nations-cigarette-allocation-system https://www.ontario.ca/document/tobacco-tax/first-nations-ci...

somethoughts 4y ago

Don't really have any data to base this thought on, but it seems like there could be a (positive?) feedback loop - at least from the standpoint of legal players within a heavily taxed industry - where if high taxes were then used to prevent illegal players (bootleggers/smuggling) from entering the market of enforcing the existing laws. That way instead of general tax payers funding enforcement, it's the direct beneficiaries of the enforcement who are funding the effort. And they can decide how much they want to tax themselves.