Are There Many Counterfeit Cigarettes In Circulation?

[sandyRoe]

I smoked a Regal cigarette the other day and it tasted terrible. Admittedly I haven't smoked for a long while but don't remember them tasting so bad.

[chrissa1]

Depends where you got them from, I guess.

[anneasquith]

were they duty free ?

[sandyRoe]

No. I think they'd have bought in a corner shop.

[sandyRoe]

Been bought

[-Talbot-]

Was there a time when they didn't taste terrible?

lemon meringue king size ...mmmmmmmmm!

[B00]

"Admittedly I haven't smoked for a long while"

That's your answer.

[anneasquith]

it's a sign sandy. get back on the e cigs :)

[retrocop]

Probably because you hadn't smoked for a long time. I loved my baccy and had to give up 7yrs ago due to medical advice. I would hazard a guess that even though I still miss my weed that I would find the taste awful too if I picked one up now.
But yes there is a lot of counterfeit fags being sold still on street corners,out of suitcases both here in London and I know my sister smokes hooky so called branded cigarettes in Canada that are manufactured by Indians on their reserves. The ingredients are frightening and do not come close to fine virginia leaf. A lot of the constituents are saw dust I am led to believe but the Canucks would probably say camel dung.

[retrocop]

Sandy
Might answer your question.

http://www.spotcounterfeits.co.uk/counterfeit-cigarettes-on-the-market.html

[anneasquith]

'' I still miss my weed '' oh really !!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

[sandyRoe]

I think using the E cigarette helped break my resistance. I'm going back to the niquitine lozenges.

[Jackdaw33]

Good point, Anne. As a long time smoker I can testify that duty frees are less tasty than home-grown, due to the excessive amount of saltpetre used in producing them. Counterfeits, or 'snides' as they are known, are widespread and will become more so when plain packaging is introduced, as you won't have a clue what's inside.

[sandyRoe]

That links an eye opener. I'd thought smuggled tobacco was more of a problem.

[retrocop]

annieasquith
I don't know where you hail from but here,in London,"Weed" doesn't mean just waccy baccy,grass,skag,skunk,pot marihuana etc. It also applies to legitimate tobacco bought from legitimate wholesalers.

[Jackdaw33]

As said, weed is a 19C term for tobacco; cigarettes and cigars were known as stickweed.

[dannyk13]

Locally there have been numerous confiscations of counterfeit cigarettes.

[Hypognosis]

There was an episode of "Fake Britain" dedicated to this problem. The Chinese are adept at not just copying the anti-counterfeiting features but in keeping up to date with the frequent packaging design changes which genuine manufacturers use to keep them guessing.

When intercepted at Dover, they find bales of tobacco and separate boxes of packaging, for multiple brands, still in 2-D form. These go to a UK-based sweatshop for assembly (complete with obligatory floor-sweepings) and distribution.

Even before I gave up and even though all my rolling baccy was marked 'duty paid' I found them to be incredibly variable in quality. One pack would smell like sultanas and taste sweet, the next would occasionally taste like burnt rubber. At the time, I thought "no way would any consumer show tackle this, cos cigs are non-PC".

The 'generic' tobacco, when lab tested had unacceptable levels of toxic heavy metals, such as cadmium and mercury. The whole reason that Chinese factories are cheap is that they do not bother with the quality control or safety procedures that we have.

If the retailer is visibly struggling (overdue for redecoration etc.) then it's likely that they may be resorting to selling these cheap, fake, products.