$14.25 for a pack of Newport Cigarettes?

Twostep said:
You forgot the coupons.
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I can't recall ever receiving discount coupons, nor did the cost of cigarettes serve as a meaningful deterrent to the habit. According to an inflation calculator, the 50 cents spent on a pack of cigarettes in 1974 would be equivalent to $3.34 today. In 2009, the U.S. government introduced a substantial tax increase on cigarettes, aimed at curbing smoking rates. I suspect that's not figured into the inflation calculator.
Inflation Calculator | Find US Dollar's Value From 1913-2025
 
I stopped smoking about 25 years ago. I still miss that evening smoke with a cup of coffee or a Coke. It was a greyt way to relax esp. after a busy or trying day. The sole reason I gave it up was because I hated lying to Drs when they asked me if I smoked. It is an addiction like alcohol, unlike some who call drug addiction a disease.
Giving it up was way worse than losing weight.
 
MrPants said:
Smokers are addicts therefore will ensure they have smokes before food, if it comes to that.
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True, I don't smoke anymore, but when I did nothing stopped me. I bought bags of tobacco at the dollar store for $6.25. about a carton. I was actually saving money and that wasn't long ago. I bought tubes and a little machine. I know a lot people who do it.
 
I have always felt sorry for smokers. I have heard the addiction was like heroin. My friends that smoked have bad health. Heart attacks, COPD. My mom died from an abdominal aneurysm ....she chain smoked. I remember my parents buying cartons on Friday after payday. Two of Kents. Dad quit at the age of 36. Pissddd mom off. My best friend who chain smoked till two years ago could barely breathe. He actually quit and is a little better. The other BF had a stroke and HAD to quit. Wife wont let him smoke now........Now back in the early 70s I smoked a little weed. But I tried to inhale a cig one day and I thought I was dying. My sympathy to those addicted to it......
 
My dad died of lung cancer in his 60's. I start smoking in my early 20's as a rebellion more than anything because I was raised so strict. When I quit, they were $3.50 a pack and that was considered astronomical at the time. I wanted to quit only because I didn't want to end up like my dad. I enjoyed the nasty habit but knew I wouldn't quit if I dated a smoker, so I made it a habit to only date nonsmokers and I kicked the habit.
 
USER=22906]@TeePee[/USE
My dad died of small cell lung cancer at 65. Tried to be a smoker but failed until I met my husband who introduced me to menthol. Despite what cigarettes have done to me I still wish I could smoke. Horrible addiction. I grew up with cigarettes as a natural part of life.
 
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Paladin1950 said:
That's 71.25¢ a cigarette! I remember being a kid in 1968 and seeing a vending machine where I worked that was selling packs of cigarettes for 75¢ a pack. Or 3.75¢ a cigarette. With those prices, cigarettes are now always found behind the cashiers counter in a glass case. Every time I pay up in the dollar stores and see those prices, it makes me so glad that I'm a life long non-smoker. That of course doesn't include marijuana in my younger days. :)
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$14.25 for ONE PACK??!? Seriously?!? I'm almost in shock hearing that!
 
They'll wind up creating street corner cigarette dealers selling loosies. If the dealer gets caught they have a legal product so they could probably only be charged for price scalping.
 
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Of course compared to many years ago and what a lot of us older people were accustomed to paying...$14.25 a pack seems outrageous. However people are getting paid a whole lot more money these days then we were back then, even for working at McDonald's! I don't remember the wages in that era, but I'm thinking it probably evens out. However from all the luxuries that people expect to have these days they seem to be doing a whole lot better. 👍
I mean I remember when a hamburger at fast food was $0.19 cents. Yes I am of THAT age. 😁

Ahhh the good ol' days... Were they?
Although it was a much simpler time for sure, I know that I still prefer the conveniences of today. Can't have it all! Personally I don't want to go back to the days of the wringer washing machines/ scrub boards for doing laundry etc.
 
Pepper said:
USER=22906]@TeePee[/USE
My dad died of small cell lung cancer at 65. Tried to be a smoker but failed until I met my husband who introduced me to menthol. Despite what cigarettes have done to me I still wish I could smoke. Horrible addiction. I grew up with cigarettes as a natural part of life.
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Sorry about your dad... And whatever health issues cigarettes may have caused you. Thank goodness to new technology cancer is no longer necessarily a death sentence.
We have tiny children that have cancer, surely they have never smoked or even been around it in today's anti-smoking world. I know people that never smoked a day in their life or drank and still passed from cancer. Go figure...
 
The price will motivate people into recreational drugs like pot which many already smoke like cigarettes. Frequently smell pot before 8 in the morning. Problem is smoked pot has not filter and has 7-10 times more particulate matter than cigarettes. Some studies show Pot smokers and vapors have more issues than cigarette smokers. Pot also has other side effects that cigarettes don't like stomach issues.
 
The price of cigarettes varies greatly from one section of the country to another, and even within the same community. When I was in Dollar General the other day, the woman ahead of me in line paid almost $12 for one pack of cigarettes. She must not shop around, because the gas station a mile from me sells several name brands (i.e., Pall Mall, Marlboro; others) for $4.93 / pack when buying 2 packs.
 
Cigarettes were 75¢ a pack in a machine when I smoked back in the early '80s and even cheaper from the grocery store.

What gets me is when I see homeless people smoking. How can they afford cigarettes at today's prices when they're living out on the streets?
 
A packet of fags here is over $50, it is hard to find the exact price because it is illegal to advertise or display cigarettes.

On the bright side less than 9% of adults smoke on the other hand they did drop their guard with vapes but have clamped down now perhaps a bit too late(?)

It is rare to see a smoker in public. I think the Kiwi's had the right idea in completely banning smoking for anyone born after a certain date.
 
Pepper said:
USER=22906]@TeePee[/USE
My dad died of small cell lung cancer at 65. Tried to be a smoker but failed until I met my husband who introduced me to menthol. Despite what cigarettes have done to me I still wish I could smoke. Horrible addiction. I grew up with cigarettes as a natural part of life.
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My dad died at 67 years old in 1963. He chain smoked Kents as far back as I can remember. He retired at 65 years old from GM and then immediately afterwards was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died a horrible death. That's too bad after you worked all of your life that you can't enjoy it because of having an addictive habit that you just can't quit. He did eventually quit after his diagnosis, but that's only because he was too sick to smoke. I quit smoking at the age of 50. I hope I didn't inherit his propensity for lung cancer.
 
I tried several ways to quit in my thirties. One was sucking on a mint flavored fake cigarette. Nothing worked well. At 40 I suffered from a ruptured appendix. (One doctor said it was actually an ovarian cyst). I was tube fed for three weeks and never lit another cigarette. Blessing in disguise?
 
I can remember back in the 50's here in Sydney people could buy single cigarettes, I suppose it was for those who couldn't
afford a packet. Nowadays people are buying those cheap cigarettes from China, Manchester for $8. packet under the counter. My friend buys them and has a hacking cough. She said she can't give them up.
 
RambleTamble said:
Cigarettes were 75¢ a pack in a machine when I smoked back in the early '80s and even cheaper from the grocery store.

What gets me is when I see homeless people smoking. How can they afford cigarettes at today's prices when they're living out on the streets?
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I've seen people choose smoking over overeating. It's that addictive. I remember back in the early 70's and a friend was short on money. She could either buy milk for her kids or cigarettes but didn't have enough money for both. She ended up compromising. She bought cigarettes for herself and Kool-Aid for her kids. (Kool-Aid was a lot cheaper than milk). While I didn't agree with her choice at the time, it just goes to show how addictive it is. She loved her children immensely.
 
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