Well,I live now in this small Nordic country with absolutely moronic tobacco laws.First when I moved it was quite okay but couple years ago the legislation concerning smoking and tobacco products got worse.I been smoking pipes since 80´s and I´m still very much in love with this hobby.So in the capital there was 6 good tobacco stores now only 3.Corner stores are selling in best case Macbaren´s Original Choice,Cherry Choice,Harmony,Half&Half,they used to have decent blends like MB`s Mixture and Golden Blend but not anymore. Tobacco stores try their best to offer good tobacco but the price of a tin is horrible.I pay for a 50 g tin of Old Dublin or Hyde Park 18 euros around 16 USD and same goes with most of the blends.A month a ago my friend and tobacconist got his hand on Squadron Leader,Three Nuns Flake plus another fine blends and after the taxes to state the price of a tin was 30 euros about 26 USD.So the MAN is actually tighten the grip from pipe smokers by adding these idiotic over-priced taxes.You can´t smoke in the Pubs or cafes.Some MP has been promoting the idea that whole country should be smokeless but I don´t know shall the legislation go through...I think not.So I still buy from Internet tobacco but it´s right gamble...sometimes the customs bust the shipment and you¨ll need to pay this high tax to get your tobacco out and sometimes not.So sorry about my complaints but I still believe in personal freedom to choose whatever you like without governing bodies temper with your personal choices.I wish you all happy puffing and the struggle goes on.
In Finland they push smokers to the edge
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The last time I was in Helsinki on route to visit my in laws I saw this crazy over the top attitude. The Finns worry about smoking yet the whole country is permanently hammered on booze. They are a nation beset by automatism and on the whole are a very shallow nasty group of people. I should know as I am married to one who I daily pray will have a close encounter with a London Underground train!
: and by the way,
Heh, that's hardly true.
Admittedly, if you walk around the railway station in downtown Helsinki on a weekend you'll undoubtedly see hoards of drunken youths. And older people, too. Finns are binge/weekend drinkers rather than steady tipplers(1). The heavy users here (around 10%) consume more than half of all the alcohol, which certainly is a big problem.
However, take any big city in the UK on a weekend and I'll guarantee you'll see much more public drunkenness than you would anywhere in Finland. A friend lived in London for a few years and he'd write me stories about how the Brits would get much more hammered than us. I didn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. I've travelled in rather restless places on this Earth, but that was something else.
(1) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zj50DmBFp0
If your salary is keeping up with your life-style, good on you! If not it may be time to move on to a new job or country of residence. We smokers seem to revel in our lowly position in society. We know that the majority of people loathe us, governments tax us and yet, we persist. What is wrong with us? A love of going against the grain? Do we like irritating others? A bit of "teenage rebellion" still residing in our adult psyches? Is there a deep seated need to offend?
"Rebellion" is the one I hide behind, at 68 I still like to affront the masses with my behavior. I could quit smoking in a second but, where's the fun in that. I do so like taking a last drag of a cigarette before entering a store and not exhaling until well beyond the door, the bakery section is usually my choice. A lightly smoldering pipe in a jacket pocket gets the shoppers sniffing the air like a bloodhound, ready to bay to the high heavens so as to alert the PC Police. A little harmless fun is the highlight of my day.
"Rebellion" is the one I hide behind, at 68 I still like to affront the masses with my behavior. I could quit smoking in a second but, where's the fun in that. I do so like taking a last drag of a cigarette before entering a store and not exhaling until well beyond the door, the bakery section is usually my choice. A lightly smoldering pipe in a jacket pocket gets the shoppers sniffing the air like a bloodhound, ready to bay to the high heavens so as to alert the PC Police. A little harmless fun is the highlight of my day.
LOL If you smell like the old smoker I stood behind at the store yesterday there was no doubt about it.
Those prices don't seem that high compared to what I see in shops here in AZ and WI. Smoking in public is not popular and never will be again. I recommend you use and enjoy what freedom you do have to go your home put your feet up and enjoy a pipe or cigar in the warmth and comfort of home sweet home. Go Kimi! 8O
The math is off. It looks like the OP calculated the exchange rate going the wrong way. For example, 30 euros is about US$34
I have the feeling that the "witch hunt" for smokers was worse a few years ago. There are many exeptions for bars now. Next thing will be "horror pics" of cancer or smoker´s legs on cigarette packs. Thank god cigars and pipe tobaccos will just have the warnings without pictures for the next time.
As gigger said houses or driving a car (even getting the license for it) will cost yopu an arm and a leg here in Germany. We have about 75% taxes on gasoline, 19% VAT and up to 51% income tax. Food is cheap though.
Talking about prices: I had TAD striking today and got a tin of Germain´s Special Latakia Flake for €10.50, a Capstan (yellow) for €10.35, Richmond Navy Cut for €9.05, Dunhills Royal Yacht for €12.25 and Dunhills DeLuxe Navy Rolls for €13.10. So I think that pipe tobacco prices are still tolerable here.
As gigger said houses or driving a car (even getting the license for it) will cost yopu an arm and a leg here in Germany. We have about 75% taxes on gasoline, 19% VAT and up to 51% income tax. Food is cheap though.
Talking about prices: I had TAD striking today and got a tin of Germain´s Special Latakia Flake for €10.50, a Capstan (yellow) for €10.35, Richmond Navy Cut for €9.05, Dunhills Royal Yacht for €12.25 and Dunhills DeLuxe Navy Rolls for €13.10. So I think that pipe tobacco prices are still tolerable here.
I was searching for pipe photos from the Finnish Wartime Photograph Archive and found this series.
The photos show a small home grown tobacco operation on Valamo island in lake Ladoga (now Russia) during the Continuation War in 1943. The first two photos of a soldier inspecting the young plants in June 1943. The rest of the photos are from December of the same year. (Oops, the last photo isn't actually part of this series.) They even branded the 'baccy, "The Seal of Valamo"
The Finnish troops (along with Germans) had taken back the territory invaded by the Soviets during the Winter War. The island of Valamo being part of it. The territory in Karelian isthmus was lost finally in the summer of 1944 in the Karelian offensive. There was an old Orthodox monastery on the island which was evacuated just before the Soviet attack. I wonder if there's any tobacco grown anymore in Valamo.
EDIT: Here's a map of the area and the territories we lost to Soviets in the South. As you can see the original border goes fairly close to Leningrad. That was apparently too close to Stalin.
EDIT2: Ahem, the original border is the line. The red area shows the advancement of the Finnish troops. They went a bit further than was originally theirs.
The photos show a small home grown tobacco operation on Valamo island in lake Ladoga (now Russia) during the Continuation War in 1943. The first two photos of a soldier inspecting the young plants in June 1943. The rest of the photos are from December of the same year. (Oops, the last photo isn't actually part of this series.) They even branded the 'baccy, "The Seal of Valamo"
The Finnish troops (along with Germans) had taken back the territory invaded by the Soviets during the Winter War. The island of Valamo being part of it. The territory in Karelian isthmus was lost finally in the summer of 1944 in the Karelian offensive. There was an old Orthodox monastery on the island which was evacuated just before the Soviet attack. I wonder if there's any tobacco grown anymore in Valamo.
EDIT: Here's a map of the area and the territories we lost to Soviets in the South. As you can see the original border goes fairly close to Leningrad. That was apparently too close to Stalin.
EDIT2: Ahem, the original border is the line. The red area shows the advancement of the Finnish troops. They went a bit further than was originally theirs.
Can't tell if that link works on my device. Here it is longhand just in case.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/vladimir-putin-wants-to-regain-finland-for-russia-adviser-says-9224273.html
Seems like this whole world is flipping upside down.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/vladimir-putin-wants-to-regain-finland-for-russia-adviser-says-9224273.html
Seems like this whole world is flipping upside down.
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