The government of Turkmenistan has
outlawed the sale of all tobacco products. Stores caught selling cigarettes face a fine of over $1,500. Black market cigarettes now sell for $10.50 a pack in Turkmenistan. That is about what they sell for in the highest priced legal markets in the world in places such as London. I had a lot of Turkmen students when I taught at AUCA and all of the men smoked. Given the high prices of black market cigarettes in Turkmenistan and its relatively low wages there is a lot of financial pressure now for Turkmen smokers to quit. It will be interesting to see how successful this experiment turns out to be.
I remember a US veteran who was stationed in Turkey some time ago. His principal observation was that they were in love with smoking and would never quit.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think that the black market forces will always prevail in any event like it did with Prohibition of alcohol by the US government so many years ago. The ban is doomed to fail as it goes against human nature. Banning marijuana from the masses here still doesn't work either, except to fill up jails.