Youth Smokers like Illegal Cigarettes
Stores owners explained that they earn 40% from all tobacco sales because of contraband cigarettes.
Statistics showed that in 2007 that 21% of all cigarettes being sold were illegal, and then they grew to 32% in 2008. But in 2009 illegal cigarettes raised more than 50%.
Dave Bryans, Ontario Convenience Stores Association president said: “It’s growing in double digits every day. Today it’s a crisis for convenience stores, neighborhoods, schools and society.”
Researchers showed in a recent study that some 13% of high school students who are daily smokers regularly smoke illegal cigarettes. For example in Ontario was found that nearly 22% of youth smokers usually light up illegal cigarettes. Young people who smoke contraband cigarettes also smoke significantly more than their peers who smoke other brands, the study found also.
Bryans added that those cigarettes are sold from original reserves. And the cheap price makes it even more luring for young people to experiment and pick up the habit.
And not only children but even adults are turning to the contraband cigarettes because of their low prices.
But for convenience stores it’s having a major impact on sales. For example at Bridgeport Variety in Port Colborne, owner Joe Lyu said some 80% of his sales come from tobacco and he has seen a 40% drop in those sales.
Today contraband cigarettes began a serious problem which needs to be solved for not to hurt the small business of convenience stores and especially to not affect the children’s health.
For example Canada is being plenty with untested, unregulated and untaxed cigarettes which are also robbing the government of more than $1 billion every year.
Contraband cigarettes are more of “the straw that broke the camel’s back” for convenience stores, argued researchers.
Not only tobacco products are sell at low prices but also a lot of chain stores and gas stations sell groceries and other products with a policy of low margins for to get a higher volume of customers.
