Plain Packaging, coming to a Canada near you...

[riazp]

Heard this on the news the other day...Quebec is looking to Australia for advice on plain packaging...Its coming...sooner or later. Its unavoidable...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2013/08/19/quebec-australia-cigarette-plain-packaging-national-assembly.html

[Habana Mike]

Coming soon to a country near you and the country you're in.....

[CurtisEss]

I read the comments below this article, and there was one particularly prolific poster who really couldn't seem to say enough bad things about smokers in general. I've quit smoking cigarettes, but I have to question the mentality of anyone who wants to treat smokers as "foul-smelling drug addicts." When it comes to living life, having a mentality like seems to be just as pernicious as smoking cigarettes is. This person commented that anti-tobacco activists have had a 50 year winning streak. The prohibitionists had a long winning streak before the Volstead Act went too far and public opinion started to swing the other way. Is there any hope of that happening with tobacco before outright prohibition comes into play?

[CurtisEss]

"The anti-tobacco battle is a strategic pragmatic campaign that has been so successful, it reduced smoking rates from 50% to 15%. The end goal is to have the last tobacco plan on earth plowed into the earth and the last tobacco company on earth in bankruptcy court."

-Some poster named Dennis Brady

[IcedCanuck]

I have a hard time believe Quebec will do that. There are way too many smokers in Quebec and the racist cow running Quebec right now has to know that could cost her in the next election.

[Louich]

^^^^ Ding ding ding^^^^

And at the pace things are going, Mao Marois will not stay in power for long. It is just stupid move on top of an other...

[Dara]

But how will Le francophones be able to find their beloved du Maurier Gauloises from those Anglais players & belmonts if all the packages ate the same???????

Zut Alors!!

[canadianbeaver]

Do retailers in PQ have to keep cigarettes behind covered doors on shelves behind counters too? This move was supposed to keep us from drooling over tobacco when we went into stores. But then store owners got the great idea to use these surfaces to advertise lottery tickets, cig prices, whatever.

[Louich]

Yep everything is hidden behing beatiful gray plastic covers....

[Diamondog]

Lets focus on the real damn problem, obesity....salad costs $10 and a bloody cheeseburger costs 99 cents...

[Puros Y Vino]

Lets focus on the real damn problem, obesity....salad costs $10 and a bloody cheeseburger costs 99 cents...

I'm trying dammit! But seriously. Yes. Obesity is a real problem.

I went to the CNE on Tuesday. (FYI a big yearly "fair" held in Toronto for the past 100 years). It was a damn freak show. I saw families walking around that were technically "herds". There's something wrong when 8 - 10 year old kids weigh 2-4X what they should at that age and it's not tobacco.

And the economics of food definitely works against healthy eating.

[BrotherBear]

Lets focus on the real damn problem, obesity....salad costs $10 and a bloody cheeseburger costs 99 cents...

^^^ Truth

[canadianbeaver]

Totally agree with above. Ironically, the "Cronut", Hamburger with 2 donuts for buns has sent dozens to hospital with food poisoning and this joint has been shut down. Yuck.

And a bacon flavoured milkshake? Perhaps that should be behind a plain grey door shelf too.

[ChanceSchmerr]

And a bacon flavoured milkshake? Perhaps that should be behind a plain grey door shelf too.

I had that on my Birthday last Sunday....delicious!!!!!!!!!

[canadianbeaver]

I had that on my Birthday last Sunday....delicious!!!!!!!!!

I am sure lots of people LOVE it. Hey, enjoy it Chris. How about deep fried butter?

Back on topic, Ontario now has a huge issue with bongs and other paraphernalia in corner stores too, along with the smoking health laws. They As if they will control weed and other smoking habits.

[LLC]

I think the point is we shouldn't want the government to think they should be over zealous in the control of anything be it cigars, calories consumed or the size of your soft drink.

In a free society people should be free to make their own choices, within some limits of course.

I call it Natural Selection.

[ramon_cojones]

Totally agree with above. Ironically, the "Cronut", Hamburger with 2 donuts for buns has sent dozens to hospital with food poisoning and this joint has been shut down. Yuck.

And a bacon flavoured milkshake? Perhaps that should be behind a plain grey door shelf too.

This kind of crap does nothing for me. I will enjoy a donut if it's good here and there but as far as junk food and snacks, they just don't appeal to me and don't understand how people gorge on them when they don't even taste good. It's a conditioning thing pure and simple. I happen to foam at the mouth when I see a good salad, quinoa or a kale/fruit smoothie.

[CurtisEss]

This kind of crap does nothing for me. I will enjoy a donut if it's good here and there but as far as junk food and snacks, they just don't appeal to me and don't understand how people gorge on them when they don't even taste good. It's a conditioning thing pure and simple. I happen to foam at the mouth when I see a good salad, quinoa or a kale/fruit smoothie.

Me too. Well I wouldn't say foam at the mouth, but you get the point. At this point I double over thinking of the food hangover I would have if I ate doughnut burger. But I agree with LLC. We need a government that won't bow to the small but ever present groups of people who want us all to behave better. I don't live in Canada, but we see the same things in the US, so I can sympathize with my northern brothers (and sister).

[Squarehead]

One of the last organically grown products are Cigars,bring 'em on.No steroids and antibiotics added.

Well ok ,not the cigars are grown but the tobacco their made of is.

[melies]

The legislation is also coming to Mexico, one of our "best and brightest" legislators (Miss Gabriel Cuevas) thinks she will "Save the children" with plain packing... Pathetic.

[CurtisEss]

No offense to Mexico, but it seems like there are more pressing problems there.

[Orion21]

This is what happens when you have government employees, meaning politicians, who create a career out of telling you what you should, could, can and can't do with your life. I don't want to get into a political debate concerning one type of political thinking vs another, but if you support politicians who believe it it THEIR job to create rules to control the behavior of others this is what you get. It started with booze, then taxes, then tobacco and now it's global warming. Once these types of bureaucrats get their prongs into a cause it doesn't matter if they are right OR wrong. It's all about power and retaining that power. By creating these types of laws they retain power, even if it doesn't do anything to prevent or reduce the "ills" they are trying to control. What it comes down to is these people LITERALLY don't think we are responsible enough to make decisions that they agree with, so they create laws to control our behavior . . . sounds like something we should all just sit back and watch occur, right?

If you live in Quebec and don't want this to happen you need to speak out. Call their offices, talk to all of your like minded friends. Someone knows someone else, in your group of people, who can get the ear of those who can stop this. If you don't even try you have lost already.

[melies]

No offense to Mexico, but it seems like there are more pressing problems there.

Non offense taken my friend, and exactly this is why we have this problems. Politics of the absurd ruling the country

[Patric M]

I personally don't care what my smokes come in or look like as long as the taste the same. I've stopped looking at the packages a long time ago. and I can really say those gross pictures don't really phase me and I don't even notice them anymore.

I'm more concerned about how this would affect cigars and packaging.

I would be interested to see a pic of some AUZ smokes just to see what the plain packaging looks like.

[IcedCanuck]

I personally don't care what my smokes come in or look like as long as the taste the same. I've stopped looking at the packages a long time ago. and I can really say those gross pictures don't really phase me and I don't even notice them anymore.

I'm more concerned about how this would affect cigars and packaging.

I would be interested to see a pic of some AUZ smokes just to see what the plain packaging looks like.

The box of cigars leaves Cuba with no plain packaging. When it gets to the final destination somebody then has to open up the box, remove all the cigars, cover up the box with plain packaging, remove the bands on all cigars and put new plain packaging bands back on. Who is responsible for this? A government employee who knows nothing about cigars? How long will the box be kept in the open losing humidity? How many cigars will be damaged in this process? Will the damaged cigars simply be put back in the box the end result being me paying full price for a dried out box of damaged cigars?