I think I'm smoking counterfeit cigarettes

staceyv · 05-19-2005, 07:44 AM

I keep reading online about counterfeit cigarettes made in crime rings that are being sold through the internet, and how they have very high levels of cadmium, arsenic, other toxins and heavy metals. (More than regular cigarettes, which alone can kill you.)

I got a little concerned, because I buy cigarettes online for just over $11 a carton, plus shipping. (A carton in the store is about $50)

The cigarettes are made in the Ukraine and are in a different pack than in the U.S. (Most european cigs are different than U.S, even major brands).

Still, I start wondering if they're counterfeit and they're gonna kill me in half the time. So, I emailed the website I buy them from.

Emails:
ME:
I keep reading things online about dangerous counterfeit cigarettes that contain more toxins.
Do you know where your cigarettes are produced, and by what company?

If I am concerned about smoking counterfeit cigarettes, would you suggest that I buy them in a store in the US instead of ordering them online?
(Or are yours safe?)

REPLY:
Dear Sir,
Our cigarettes are slightly different from US cigarettes.
They come from Eastern Europe.

If you have some additional questions, feel free to contact us.
Have a great day!

ME:
thanks for telling me where they come from, but do you know what company manufactures them?

REPLY:
Dear Customer,

We don't deal with Phillip Morris.

If you have some additional questions, feel free to contact us.
Have a great day!

lumberjim · 05-19-2005, 08:14 AM

stacy. ........stacy, stacy,stacy.

....sigh

wolf · 05-19-2005, 08:45 AM

They'll kill you either way ... Maybe you'll lose an extra week from the cheap, formerly Soviet, smokes. Although, if they get you quickly ... maybe there's a Law & Order episode that would be based on your death ... I mean you already think the cigs are going to kill you, and if Arsen (or someone else, but the Russian Emigre with possible mob ties is a frequent villain on L&O) added to the toxic chemicals ...

I hear RI just went non-smoking. No smoking indoors at all. Is that causing a problem for you yet?

(My sister lives in Cumberland, works in Providence. If I ever get up to visit her, we usually travel to Newport to look at boats and mansions. If I do that, I'll let you know!)

Elspode · 05-19-2005, 08:53 AM

No smoking indoors? In your own home?

Now just a goddamned minute...what country am I living in, again?

wolf · 05-19-2005, 08:59 AM

RI, due to proximity to MA, is essentially a communist satellite state.

staceyv · 05-19-2005, 09:14 AM

I haven't gone out as much since they banned smoking in bars. It sucks to stand on the street and let everyone riding by know that you're such an addicted dirty smoker that you'll stand out in the rain/snow/cold/wind to have a cigarette.

I've been drinking at home and smoking all I want- or we'll go to Arsen's russian friends' place and drink and smoke.

I hardly ever go out to eat anyways, because it's so damned expensive. And the one time we did go out to eat this year, we had to go stand outside to smoke in between aps and entrees and that SUCKED.

I think it's a good thing, though. They probably should've done it a long time ago. I smoke, but I know it's disgusting and unhealthy, so why should everyone else be subjected to it? I'm ashamed to smoke in public. Even while I'm driving, I hate it if someone looks at me while I'm taking a drag. I feel like a crackhead with my dirty addiction.

I plan on switching to the lightest cigs on the market in August (end of summer so I don't care if I gain weight), smoke those air sticks for a few months, and then go on the lowest dose patch. I made this plan in January. It's my one year, take it easy plan to quit smoking.

But I have a closet stuffed with 16 cartons of cigs that I think are counterfeit, and I'll probably smoke the damn things, too. They can't give me cancer and kidney disease in just a little year- can they?

russotto · 05-19-2005, 10:14 AM

They're made in Ukraine? I'd be concerned they were grown in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

Then again, a little extra strontium probably won't kill much faster.

jaguar · 05-19-2005, 12:30 PM

There's no doubt something dodgy going on, as for the extra posions, I'm sure it comes from the same people that claim that coke gets chopped with posion and amusingly, anthrax as well. I can see it now:
Dealer 1: We need to debase this coke a bit to make more money
Dealer 2: True, pass the flour!
Dealer 1: No! Lets obtain dangerous posions and bioagents and use those instead, at more cost, more risk and with greater danger of being hunted down when someone dies!
Dealer 2: Brilliant! I'll contact Al Queda.

staceyv · 05-19-2005, 01:15 PM

I wish that were true!- that it was just the legitimate cigarette companies or government trying to scare everybody out of buying them- but their story is very, very believable:
(here's just one of the many pages I found on this...)
Basically, they blame the toxins/ metals on fertilizers, pesticides and acidic soil.

jaguar · 05-19-2005, 01:20 PM

Well seems like another case of you get what you pay for.

dar512 · 05-19-2005, 01:42 PM

<Monty Python shopkeeper>
So miss what'll it be? You want the plain cigarettes with just the nicotene and coal tar or are you wanting the extra fancy with the strontium-90 and the extra toxins?

lookout123 · 05-19-2005, 02:01 PM

Jag - on the coke part, that isn't all myth. not in the states anyway. it isn't some big conspiracy or anything, but sheer laziness and stupidity. i am personally aware of coke being laced with bleach, among other things.

if you know someone who does a fair amount of coke and then, suddenly their skin breaks out with what looks to be a horrible case of acne... but instead of little whiteheads, etc. the "pimples" will ooze clear fluid or a pussy material - your friend just nailed with some cheap cutting.

seriously - it isn't that infrequent. it usually happens close to the street. it may have been fairly pure to begin with, but after a pinch here and a bump there, your friendly neighborhood supplier ends up with bleach, talc, meth, etc... missed in to bring it back up to weight for very low cost.

as always, Drugs 're baad, m'kay?

Troubleshooter · 05-19-2005, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lookout123

...your friend just nailed with some cheap cutting....

You say that like it's a bad thing.

lookout123 · 05-19-2005, 02:20 PM

depends on which side of the line you are sitting on i suppose.

cowhead · 05-19-2005, 02:34 PM

coke doesn't do anything to me other than make me babble for about 5 minutes and then I get sleepy... damn backwards metabolism! but stacy, if you're planning on really quiting (I'm going to give it a shot here once the students get out of town.. makes it less stressfull.. although the boredom angle gets much worse) ANYWAY! if you're looking for a cigarette that has the least alterations to it? i'd recomend american spirits (although they did get bought out by one of the majors) loose tobacco, 1.) they're cheap 2.) there are no additives and 3.) rolling your own is a pain in the ass (to me anyway). and I have had some friends that have had good luck with that smoke away stuff.. (I have a bottle of the liquid form.. well... same ingredients just absorbed faster) anyway! you could always sell those cigarettes to highschool kids!

05-19-2005, 07:44 AM	#1
staceyv Lecturer Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Ohio Posts: 927	I think I'm smoking counterfeit cigarettes I keep reading online about counterfeit cigarettes made in crime rings that are being sold through the internet, and how they have very high levels of cadmium, arsenic, other toxins and heavy metals. (More than regular cigarettes, which alone can kill you.) I got a little concerned, because I buy cigarettes online for just over $11 a carton, plus shipping. (A carton in the store is about $50) The cigarettes are made in the Ukraine and are in a different pack than in the U.S. (Most european cigs are different than U.S, even major brands). Still, I start wondering if they're counterfeit and they're gonna kill me in half the time. So, I emailed the website I buy them from. Emails: ME: I keep reading things online about dangerous counterfeit cigarettes that contain more toxins. Do you know where your cigarettes are produced, and by what company? If I am concerned about smoking counterfeit cigarettes, would you suggest that I buy them in a store in the US instead of ordering them online? (Or are yours safe?) REPLY: Dear Sir, Our cigarettes are slightly different from US cigarettes. They come from Eastern Europe. If you have some additional questions, feel free to contact us. Have a great day! ME: thanks for telling me where they come from, but do you know what company manufactures them? REPLY: Dear Customer, We don't deal with Phillip Morris. If you have some additional questions, feel free to contact us. Have a great day!

05-19-2005, 08:14 AM	#2
lumberjim I can hear my ears Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 25,571	stacy. ........stacy, stacy,stacy. ....sigh __________________ This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality Embrace this moment, remember We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan

05-19-2005, 08:45 AM	#3
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	They'll kill you either way ... Maybe you'll lose an extra week from the cheap, formerly Soviet, smokes. Although, if they get you quickly ... maybe there's a Law & Order episode that would be based on your death ... I mean you already think the cigs are going to kill you, and if Arsen (or someone else, but the Russian Emigre with possible mob ties is a frequent villain on L&O) added to the toxic chemicals ... I hear RI just went non-smoking. No smoking indoors at all. Is that causing a problem for you yet? (My sister lives in Cumberland, works in Providence. If I ever get up to visit her, we usually travel to Newport to look at boats and mansions. If I do that, I'll let you know!) __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

05-19-2005, 08:53 AM	#4
Elspode When Do I Get Virtual Unreality? Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Raytown, Missouri Posts: 12,719	No smoking indoors? In your own home? Now just a goddamned minute...what country am I living in, again? __________________ "To those of you who are wearing ties, I think my dad would appreciate it if you took them off." - Robert Moog

05-19-2005, 08:59 AM	#5
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	RI, due to proximity to MA, is essentially a communist satellite state. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

05-19-2005, 09:14 AM	#6
staceyv Lecturer Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Ohio Posts: 927	I haven't gone out as much since they banned smoking in bars. It sucks to stand on the street and let everyone riding by know that you're such an addicted dirty smoker that you'll stand out in the rain/snow/cold/wind to have a cigarette. I've been drinking at home and smoking all I want- or we'll go to Arsen's russian friends' place and drink and smoke. I hardly ever go out to eat anyways, because it's so damned expensive. And the one time we did go out to eat this year, we had to go stand outside to smoke in between aps and entrees and that SUCKED. I think it's a good thing, though. They probably should've done it a long time ago. I smoke, but I know it's disgusting and unhealthy, so why should everyone else be subjected to it? I'm ashamed to smoke in public. Even while I'm driving, I hate it if someone looks at me while I'm taking a drag. I feel like a crackhead with my dirty addiction. I plan on switching to the lightest cigs on the market in August (end of summer so I don't care if I gain weight), smoke those air sticks for a few months, and then go on the lowest dose patch. I made this plan in January. It's my one year, take it easy plan to quit smoking. But I have a closet stuffed with 16 cartons of cigs that I think are counterfeit, and I'll probably smoke the damn things, too. They can't give me cancer and kidney disease in just a little year- can they?

05-19-2005, 10:14 AM	#7
russotto Professor Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,788	They're made in Ukraine? I'd be concerned they were grown in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Then again, a little extra strontium probably won't kill much faster.

05-19-2005, 12:30 PM	#8
jaguar whig Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 5,075	There's no doubt something dodgy going on, as for the extra posions, I'm sure it comes from the same people that claim that coke gets chopped with posion and amusingly, anthrax as well. I can see it now: Dealer 1: We need to debase this coke a bit to make more money Dealer 2: True, pass the flour! Dealer 1: No! Lets obtain dangerous posions and bioagents and use those instead, at more cost, more risk and with greater danger of being hunted down when someone dies! Dealer 2: Brilliant! I'll contact Al Queda. __________________ Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. - Twain

05-19-2005, 01:15 PM	#9
staceyv Lecturer Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Ohio Posts: 927	I wish that were true!- that it was just the legitimate cigarette companies or government trying to scare everybody out of buying them- but their story is very, very believable: (here's just one of the many pages I found on this...) Basically, they blame the toxins/ metals on fertilizers, pesticides and acidic soil.

05-19-2005, 01:20 PM	#10
jaguar whig Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 5,075	Well seems like another case of you get what you pay for. __________________ Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. - Twain

05-19-2005, 01:42 PM	#11
dar512 dar512 is now Pete Zicato Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago suburb Posts: 4,968	<Monty Python shopkeeper> So miss what'll it be? You want the plain cigarettes with just the nicotene and coal tar or are you wanting the extra fancy with the strontium-90 and the extra toxins? __________________ "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain." -- Friedrich Schiller

05-19-2005, 02:01 PM	#12
lookout123 changed his status to single Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Right behind you. No, the other side. Posts: 10,308	Jag - on the coke part, that isn't all myth. not in the states anyway. it isn't some big conspiracy or anything, but sheer laziness and stupidity. i am personally aware of coke being laced with bleach, among other things. if you know someone who does a fair amount of coke and then, suddenly their skin breaks out with what looks to be a horrible case of acne... but instead of little whiteheads, etc. the "pimples" will ooze clear fluid or a pussy material - your friend just nailed with some cheap cutting. seriously - it isn't that infrequent. it usually happens close to the street. it may have been fairly pure to begin with, but after a pinch here and a bump there, your friendly neighborhood supplier ends up with bleach, talc, meth, etc... missed in to bring it back up to weight for very low cost. as always, Drugs 're baad, m'kay? __________________ Getting knocked down is no sin, it's not getting back up that's the sin

05-19-2005, 02:20 PM	#14
lookout123 changed his status to single Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Right behind you. No, the other side. Posts: 10,308	depends on which side of the line you are sitting on i suppose. __________________ Getting knocked down is no sin, it's not getting back up that's the sin

05-19-2005, 02:34 PM	#15
cowhead halve your cake and eat it too. Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Georgia.. by way of Lawrence Kansas Posts: 1,359	coke doesn't do anything to me other than make me babble for about 5 minutes and then I get sleepy... damn backwards metabolism! but stacy, if you're planning on really quiting (I'm going to give it a shot here once the students get out of town.. makes it less stressfull.. although the boredom angle gets much worse) ANYWAY! if you're looking for a cigarette that has the least alterations to it? i'd recomend american spirits (although they did get bought out by one of the majors) loose tobacco, 1.) they're cheap 2.) there are no additives and 3.) rolling your own is a pain in the ass (to me anyway). and I have had some friends that have had good luck with that smoke away stuff.. (I have a bottle of the liquid form.. well... same ingredients just absorbed faster) anyway! you could always sell those cigarettes to highschool kids! __________________ no my child.. this is not my desire..I'm digging for fire.

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