Bad news for smokers.
The Application by FITA (Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association) to have the tobacco ban set aside, was today dismissed (with costs) by the Gauteng High Court.

Kinda knew that was gonna happen it took way to long to get to making a ruling.

Those brown envelopes must have been really good;)

Lol you will see her back on tv real soon after being low key for awhile.

In the mid to late nineties i was a teenage (dumb) smoker.
Along came our then new health minister Ms Zuma.

We freaken hated her. I mean who the hell did she think she was? Taking away our right to smoke where ever we wanted to. We thought her desire to ban smoking in public places was insane and would never work.

Thankfully when i got to my mid twenties and started to approach the big 30 i realised that i was getting older and not as invincible as i thought i was when in my teens and after putting huge amount of effort over many years i finally mmanaged to quit before i turned thirty.

Today with the benefit of hindsight and the wisdom that comes with age i cringe when i think of how we used to smoke freely in public transport cinemas, restaurants etc not giving a damn about the rights of non smokers to clean air.

So i have to admit she was correct in her actions then. It took me a good ten years to realise that.

As much as this corona virus has created havoc in our lives i firmly believe that it has also created many unique opportunities for us to change and do things different in all aspects of life.

So if i was a smoker at the start of this pandemic i would have taken this as an opportunity to stop the habit. Im not gonna be one of those ex smokers whose gonna lecture a person about how bad smoking is but whether we like it or not it is.

Im just wondering in ten years how many smokers are actually gonna be grateful to NDZ like how i was when i finally matured.

Most powerful person in SA

On 2020-06-26 17:05:48 Louise ( Miss Red) said:
Kinda knew that was gonna happen it took way to long to get to making a ruling.

Those brown envelopes must have been really good;)

Lol you will see her back on tv real soon after being low key for awhile.

Was it brown envelopes for all those other matters that they lost?

On 2020-06-26 20:56:03 330guy said:


Im just wondering in ten years how many smokers are actually gonna be grateful to NDZ like how i was when i finally matured.

The problem is the way this is being done. Making smokes illegal to buy during a pandemic when people are stressed and locked up is not cool. If it was "normal" life it may have been different, but also probably impossible to legally do since it is a legal product. Smoking is definitely bad for your health, but banning the use of it in certain places/instances is very different to making the sale illegal overnight, remember they made this announcement the day before lockdown started, a sly trick in my opinion. Not too mention some of the excuses they use to justify the ban. The argument of keeping the hospitals empty blew out the window when they made alcohol legal again but kept smokes illegal. I quit smoking years ago if that matters.

I don't know if it was the pending court decision, but I recently heard from friends and colleagues who smoke that the prices they pay for their illegal smokes dropped drastically. Did any of the smokers here notice the same?

Some of my colleagues were sure the court case had something to do with price drop and sellers wanting to retain the business when cigarettes are legal again.

In any case, I wonder if the prices are now gonna skyrocket again...

In any case, I stopped smoking with Champix. Before that I tried everything from nicorettes, some or other tongue spray, zyban, hypnosis (twice), seminars and books. Champix finally helped me overcome my addiction.

Firstly, I am a non-smoker (do enjoy weed from time to time though). However, the issue is not whether you smoke or not. Cigarettes are not a banned substance so this ban on tobacco products from level 5 to present is nothing more than an abuse of power and deprivation of people's rights.

Im seriously happy that cigarettes and booze don't bother me. As I have seen people paying crazy amounts of money for cigarettes.my question is if they are making so much money on the black market it tops the loss of the cigarette taxes why on earth would they want to legalize it. Ever thought where all the confiscated stuff go to. I can guarantee you that they dont burn it.

On 2020-06-26 17:05:48 Louise ( Miss Red) said:


...

Those brown envelopes must have been really good;)

...

This was not a single judge. It was a panel of three. I highly doubt they would be able to buy off three judges.

But u never know.