To my Northern BOTL(Canada)

[veteranvmb]

Excuse me for not understanding, but I see a lot of posts by Canadians, referring to problems buying cigars and other cigar matters because of their Canadian residency.
I would like to understand what these restrictions or problems are.
I remember going back to the 70,s, I had a friend who lived in Toronto. And if he didnt buy a product that was made in Canada, there was something like a 40 percent or something surchage.

He didnt want to buy Canadian made electronics(televison, stereo, etc), so we made other means for him to receive the merchandise direct, thus making it affordable to buy something from sony, panasonic, etc.

Fill me with your knowledge.

Much regards Jerry

[K Baz]

The problem is not the residency infact being Canadian means that we are in a better place as we can access Cubans freely. The issue is the tax. Cigars in Canada retail very expensively and the selection of noncubans is poor and they are even worse for price relative to what they retail for in the US.

For example I was at my local B&M and I can get a Monte 4 for 17 $ CDN and or a 3000 N Padron for 14 $ CDN. Also Opus in Canada routinely can be purchased for 60 - 90 $ per stick.

So as you can well imagine we have no issues getting cigars due to residency we have trouble paying for them

There are other issues regarding buying online but I will leave that as it gets touchy with the rules.

[karmaz00]

well said K Baz...oh and me smoknTaz isited a B&M and ask about opus X....117 a stick, when they have them in stock..lol

[AspiringGent]

In the end most of us either order online from the States or get straight from Cuba (when holidaying or friends go on holidays).

[burnsco]

the taxes are so high to the point the average cigar smoker could never afford to smoke regularly without going broke! It's silly when you can afford to smoke cigarettes every day but not cigars. thankfully there are ways around it, but we shouldn't have to be sneaky IMO.

[Windigo]

It's 69% cigar tax in Ontario for instance, then the retailer has to put the markup onto the product. Thats ususally what breaks people. Low volume of customers usually mean a higher mark up, where high volume of customers usually results in a lower costs due to the volume moving the sticks. The only way to avoid the high cost from the taxation issue is to find a tobacco store on a reserve and hope they have a humidor. They are selling gars without the cigar tax on them, just the markup.
Now the rules in Ontario state that all the cigars and other tobacco products are covered up to stop the public viewing the "Evil Tobacco". Theres even a 5 second rule when the clerk grabs a pack of cigarettes, he/she cant expose the view of the cigarettes for longer than 5 seconds. Its getting very stange here.


Winny

[burnsco]

They should have different taxes for cigars! People are always going to be addicted to cigarettes, so if I had the choice I'd rather have them smoking cigars! Not good for your health exactly, but nowhere near as bad as a pack a day smoker gets. so stupid.

[burnsco]

Not to mention that the high taxes makes a lot of people buy their cigarettes from indian reserves which can have some weird stuff in them! I'm sure they are even worse for your lungs, but hey, gotta stop them dirty smokers!

[Windigo]

Yeah the contraband is getting bad.....there is a bunch of it coming in from China as well. There is a store up here that has a good walk-in by the Casino...prices are half of what you would pay in Toronto. Im not into cigarettes but gars yes! LOL I do get a kick out of seeing some of the customers looking for the clear bags of cigarettes with no labels...I just feel like asking them "Uhmmm whats in those?"

Winny

[Shaz]

The Canadian government, in their infinite wisedom, has effectively destroyed the cigar retail industry in our country with their "sin" taxes. How ironic! Although we can legally buy Cuban cigars, the cost is so prohibative, that only the well heeled can afford to buy them. They are totally missing the boat on this. First of all, it's nothing like smoking cigarettes, which is an addiction. If their intention is to stop or discourage tobacco use, it's not working. The poorest of the poor seem to find the funds for a cigarette, but can't feed themselves.
Secondly, if their intention is to profit from taxation, they would do far better to encourage the cigar retail industry to create US type B&Ms that have lounges and repeat regulars who frequent these establishments. That vertually does not exist in Canada.
Cigars should be treated differently. And pipe tobacco too. It's not the same type of smoker.
But it is unbelievably hypocritical for the government to have been profitting for so long from tobacco taxes, and now suing the tobacco companies for costs incurred to the health care system. They allow the tobacco companies to sell tobacco products. It's legal. And they profit as much, if not more from the tax revenue. Then they sue them.
Either make tobacco illigal entirely or allow these businesses to operate freely.
Sorry. Touched a hot button and had to vent.