I have just returned from living in France where I was able to buy TWENTY cigarettes including Sterling. They cost me around £3.60 a packet. Why am I now paying more than double that amount for a packet with 17 in? I have yet to go into a shop or supermarket, ask for 20 Sterling and be told that there is only 17 in the packet. I am contacting trading standards after I have finished this. Yes I know this is down to the retailer and not the manufacturer but come on. Yes we all know that smoking is bad for you and that we feel like lepers when we have to stand outside in all weathers to feed our addiction but at the end of the day it IS an addiction and not everyone can stop. If everyone in this country suddenly stopped smoking, where is the lost tax revenue going to come from? Non smoking crusaders will bleat on about how much smokers cost the NHS and yes some people will contract something which will require hospital treatment but on the whole over the years of a smoker paying obscene taxes this more than covers the cost of any treatment. Is the pack reduction a way for Sterling to wean people off cigarettes until they can eventually stop or is it just another way for them to rip off smokers and increase profits at the same time. I think the latter is the more viable.
I am totally disgusted.