With the prices of pack of smokes skyrocketing to about 10 bucks in recent years, many smokers are turning to contraband cigarettes.
The rationale for many the government is simply lining their pockets at the taxpayers expense anyway. But Carlos Godoi of the Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco tells CHSJ News you should ask yourself whether it’s really so victimless—black market smokes actually help gangs finance the illegal drug trade as well as robbing small business owners of badly needed revenue.
Godoi says small business owners take a huge hit when people can buy illegal smokes for $20 as opposed to $80 a carton, and in addition underage kids have easier access to black market tobacco products.
