Drug mule

[Octoposse]

Shay HTFC said:

I don't know. People won't bother searching out the illegal stuff when they can buy the trusted, legit product over the counter.

Its like cigarettes. How many people arse around down the car boot sale on a sunday looking for knock off cigs instead of just going to the shops and buying a pack?

I suppose it will all be down to the price difference, but if you want to gather enough tax for any worthwhile treatment programme then the 'over the counter' stuff will be expensive . . . which you'd want it to be anyway from a demand/supply point of view.

I recall a few years ago Trading Standards did an exercise down here (sunny South Coast) going through bins and gathering cigarette/tobacco packaging to see how much was non-UK tax paid and it was something horrific like 40% (memory only - could be mistaken).

[pork911]

Octoposse said:

Shay HTFC said:

I don't know. People won't bother searching out the illegal stuff when they can buy the trusted, legit product over the counter.

Its like cigarettes. How many people arse around down the car boot sale on a sunday looking for knock off cigs instead of just going to the shops and buying a pack?

I suppose it will all be down to the price difference, but if you want to gather enough tax for any worthwhile treatment programme then the 'over the counter' stuff will be expensive . . . which you'd want it to be anyway from a demand/supply point of view.

I recall a few years ago Trading Standards did an exercise down here (sunny South Coast) going through bins and gathering cigarette/tobacco packaging to see how much was non-UK tax paid and it was something horrific like 40% (memory only - could be mistaken).

cigarette tax far outweighs the cost to the state of smoking
the same would likely apply to drugs - a political issue only
tax could be levied at a profitable margin for the state while still undercutting current prices
unlikey to happen

[Randy Winkman]

[quote=pork911]


cigarette tax far outweighs the cost to the state of smoking
quote pork911]


Just a thought (and I'm not expert on tax) - cigarette tax in the UK is probably nearly all taken from UK citizens. It's money that they could've spent on something else. Cigarettes make people unhealthy. I assume few or none are made in the UK. I can only really see how they cost money for the UK, rather than make any. Tax isn't really "making money" is it?

Edited by Randy Winkman on Saturday 17th August 12:34

[pork911]

Randy Winkman said:

Just a thought (and I'm not expert on tax) - cigarette tax in the UK is probably nearly all taken from UK citizens. It's money that they could've spent on something else. Cigarettes make people unhealthy. I assume few or none are made in the UK. I can only really see how they cost money for the UK, rather than make any. Tax isn't really "making money" is it?

what?????

[Randy Winkman]

pork911 said:

Randy Winkman said:

Just a thought (and I'm not expert on tax) - cigarette tax in the UK is probably nearly all taken from UK citizens. It's money that they could've spent on something else. Cigarettes make people unhealthy. I assume few or none are made in the UK. I can only really see how they cost money for the UK, rather than make any. Tax isn't really "making money" is it?

what?????

How does the fact that people are less healthy from smoking, and are paying hard earned cash not cost the UK money? I know the Govt takes money in tax, but that's just from it's own citizens and they can only spend it once. It's a genuine question.

[pork911]

Randy Winkman said:

pork911 said:

Randy Winkman said:

Just a thought (and I'm not expert on tax) - cigarette tax in the UK is probably nearly all taken from UK citizens. It's money that they could've spent on something else. Cigarettes make people unhealthy. I assume few or none are made in the UK. I can only really see how they cost money for the UK, rather than make any. Tax isn't really "making money" is it?

what?????

How does the fact that people are less healthy from smoking, and are paying hard earned cash not cost the UK money? I know the Govt takes money in tax, but that's just from it's own citizens and they can only spend it once. It's a genuine question.

yes smoking causes health problems and dealing with those costs money BUT the tax the state receives far outweighs the costs incurred

[Justices]

Shay HTFC said:

the accused said:

If the bad guys had got this right they'd have packed the amateurs food bags with glucose. Peru customs would still have been distracted enough to let the half dozen pros slip past with 50 kliks, everyone would have had an earner and the girls would have got to spend a night in the nick and back home the next day (assumimg exporting undeclared glucose isn't a serious matter in Peru).

Unless you believe that the girls were set up as bait in order to make it look as if the Police are tough on crime....

Given up by the traffickers to the authorities for a bit of positive government media, or used as distraction while they move a shipload of stuff out the same day? Likely both.

The only positive outcome here is that it's a good opportunity for them to learn Spanish.

[eldar]

pork911 said:

yes smoking causes health problems and dealing with those costs money BUT the tax the state receives far outweighs the costs incurred

Biggest saving is the pensions smokers don't live to collect....

[Randy Winkman]

pork911 said:

yes smoking causes health problems and dealing with those costs money BUT the tax the state receives far outweighs the costs incurred

But the tax comes from its own citizens - to pay for being sick. Surely healthy staff produce more?

[Rude-boy]

eldar said:

Biggest saving is the pensions smokers don't live to collect....

Agreed.

That said, due to the level of tax in the UK, Belgium has been getting almost all my tobacco tax for the last 6 years or so...

[Rude-boy]

stuttgartmetal said:

Legalise cocaine.
Yeah sure.
Ive seen dead eighteen year olds, handsome ones, beautiful ones in one of my beds, cerebrally non functioning.
Coke?

Oh dear.

You know far more than i about picking up the bits afterwards but if it was a clean supply with proper education that would help massively. People have to go on info from dealers friends and websites but never know what they are putting up their nose. If there were a legitimate supply with constancy and quality 99% of accidental ods would never happen in the first place.

Yes there would be an initial up swing as more people have a go in the first months but within 12 it would be back down and quickly falling to a new, lower, base.

In addition to this end user improvement there would be considerable positive effects all the way back to the growers and a boost to the economies of impoverished nations.

It is not a solution,there is none, but it has to be worth a boost 3 year trial as the current approach to social drugs has been a proven failure for nearly half a century or longer. The best way to never improve or go backwards is to never change your approach to a problem.

[Oakey]

eldar said:

Biggest saving is the pensions smokers don't live to collect....

My 85yr old grandfather who insists he's been smoking since he was 5 begs to differ. The only health issue he's had was a stint in his neck three years ago. My mother thinks he'll outlive us all!

[eldar]

Oakey said:

My 85yr old grandfather who insists he's been smoking since he was 5 begs to differ. The only health issue he's had was a stint in his neck three years ago. My mother thinks he'll outlive us all!

Doesn't wear a seat belt, either

[Oakey]

eldar said:

Doesn't wear a seat belt, either

He does. He smokes about 20-30 a day as well, we can't get our heads around it. Not that I'm saying people should smoke, his house is covered in nicotine. Urgh.

[road hog]

so we should legalise drugs and go back to this ..

http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2013/05/opium-dens...

[Oakey]

road hog said:

so we should legalise drugs and go back to this ..

http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2013/05/opium-dens...

doesn't really differ from the crack dens of today, does it?

[iphonedyou]

Oakey said:

doesn't really differ from the crack dens of today, does it?

I'd imagine opium dens were more ubiquitous, but I don't know.

[Ayahuasca]

The girls' story is BS.

This sort of thing happens pretty much every day of the week.

Anyone trying to smuggle drugs through an airport in Latam is either stupid or uninformed or both.

On the plus side, had it been Thailand they would be shot and they will come away with pretty fluent Spanish.

[pork911]

Randy Winkman said:

pork911 said:

yes smoking causes health problems and dealing with those costs money BUT the tax the state receives far outweighs the costs incurred

But the tax comes from its own citizens - to pay for being sick. Surely healthy staff produce more?

produce more what?
and, no, anyway

[sooperscoop]

the accused said:

If the bad guys had got this right they'd have packed the amateurs food bags with glucose. Peru customs would still have been distracted enough to let the half dozen pros slip past with 50 kliks, everyone would have had an earner and the girls would have got to spend a night in the nick and back home the next day (assumimg exporting undeclared glucose isn't a serious matter in Peru).

I believe in some places you're still screwed, simulated drugs = drugs, for the purposes of trafficking. Getting a decade in a Peruvian rape factory would suck if it was only glucose.