Yikes!! Sorry Norway.

I'm not 100% sure about voting rights in Norway, but I would assume anyone born after the year 2000 would not be old enough to vote against the law.
Kind of a good way (read sneaky) to get it through the political process.

I'm actually not terribly concerned about smoking bans in general now that I've found out how little I can actually use a pipe, but I would have been thoroughly upset if it were illegal to purchase.

If it ever came to that, the perspective of pipe smoking as an element of cultural history would be my primary argument for allowing it to continue. That's was what got me interested in the first place and not being able to experience something that was common practice just a few generations ago seems a bit like an assault on history.

Had it been prohibited I might have just been even more determined to try it, given the disconnect in rationale between pipes and smoking bans.

Interesting. I can't actually think of any tobacco blenders or pipe makers in Norway. Who were you thinking of?

Seeds! It's a plant that grows anywhere. If they ban it, just grow the tobacco, dry it, and cure it in jars. Easy peasy. If I could no longer buy it, I wouldn't worry at all. Most people in the world couldn't identify or differentiate a tobacco plant from a common weed, so there would be little worry, IMO.

Since the late seventies, Norway has tried to ban alcohol as best they could: when I was last there, the beer contained a measly 2% alcohol, a bottle of Johnny Walker Red went for around $90 and you'd have to buy that in an establishment that resembled Fort Knox. The result was that almost every Norwegian who had room for it installed a still in his backyard and the shelves of the supermarkets were full of small bottles containing 'essence of whisky/cognac/rum' etcetera. Just add your own moonshine. Those who didn't own a still took a round trip on the ferry to Denmark, with the sole purpose of getting truly hammered. Perhaps we'll see a new cottage industry in tobacco, although agriculture has always been difficult in most of the country.

With only about 2 pipe makers in Norway there isn't much of an effort to launch.

A 50g tin of Dunhill EMP cost 37 USD here. You can purchase that at two shops, who also sells it online so add shipping to it aswell, about 6-7 USD. Those two shops are in the capital OSLO.
When I was 14-15 (20 years ago), I can remember several specialist tobacco stores, that sold Cigars, pipe tobacco etc. My aunt used to know the ones who had the local one, so I spent some time in them. When my aunt in her later years got sick so she could not make dinner I used to go there to pick up meals for her as they also do food.
Im not sure about how many pipe-makers we have now, certainly not alot but it used to be alot more and pipe-smoking was apart of the culture here as it is so close to Denmark i suppose and most of the mens did work at boats from early age before coming back. I dont know where they bought them but to see men in their 50-60s smoke pipes was just normal. I had a lot of people around who where pipe smokers when growing up. Now its not normall at all.
My county is very big and famous all over Norway for moonshine. I did not drink anything else growing up and into my early 20s, but now its allmost not obtainable anymore. The fines and penaltys are to high to risk it, and people travel more to Sweden to buy alcohol. The reason for this is that to buy alcohol, you need to go to "Vinmonopolet" which is translated as wine monopoly. The state here has monopoly on liquer sale. And their shops are in the bigger populated areas

Its (was) common to buy alcohol from Polish and Russian truck drivers, and vodka smuggled in from eastern europe.
Some years ago, it was a big load of vodka containing etanol that got sold. Resulting people who drank it to die. You could read about this from time to time and the police warning about "now its another batch of bad alchohol on the loose", I think it is just fabricated to scare people off buying it.
I have not seen the vodka or whiskey essences in grocery shops for 10 plus years.

This politics has resulted in heavy binch drinking and criminalizing alcohol, smuggling etc The gouverment tax on a JW Red is about 80%
Last year it was a hearing in the parliament, that tobacco should only be marked with warning. The packaging should not reveal the maker but have a anonomys packaging and colour. You have two choices, either rolling or sigarette`s. Of course, specialist tobacco as pipe tobacco will not be obtainable.
If i would strictly follow the law and policy at work, I have to leave work, go home, change clothes, smoke, change clothes, drive to work. And that would be in my lunch break. The only problem is that you are not allowed to leave work during work hours
Later this year, Michael Moore is coming with a new documentary about the relationship between the riches country in the world, Norway and USA. Its about free health care etc. Well, its not free I pay 36% tax. The trailer wich can bee seen on youtube show clips from the newest hospital in Norway and happy workers and patients. He just happen to miss the part about our elders that saved the nation from Nazi-Germany and guided the king to safety who is dying in toliets cause its not enough rooms or institutions to take care of our sick/old people and the funding for healthcare is massively cut every year cause of other priorietys.
You can vote from the age of 18. In secondary school it is a youth vote, or at least we had it. When i was in 9th grade the teacher said, "Ok, lets go now, everyone vote for labour party, then we come back and finish the lesson. Just get this over with"
In some african and arabic countries they put posters up,and hand out leaflets, how to go to Norway and to get most out of the welfare money and how the system works.
Its not about tobacco or alcohol anymore, its about control

Thanks for posting your information Geir. It's good to learn from someone in country.

A fun fact is, the leader of the board of health and the woman who is leading this campaign used to be my co-worker. Im educated as a doctor-secretary so i used to do urin-tests, take blood samples and small suturs for her patients
I did not smoke back then :D

Thank you, geirove for these great insights.

How is it that a once great country like Norway (and the US) just rolls over to government totalitarianism?

Here are the newest for New Brunswick Canada

Under the Smoke-Free Places Act smoking and vaping will not be permitted:

•on patios and all similar outdoor public facilities where food and/or alcohol is served and within three metres of the patio’s boundary;

•within nine metres of doorways, windows and air intakes of enclosed public places and indoor workplaces;

•on or within 20 metres of children’s equipment and sports areas located in an outdoor public place;

•on or within nine metres of a public walking or jogging trail in an outdoor public place; and

•within the boundaries of provincial parks except within the boundaries of rented campsites, golf courses and designated areas within the park.
Under the Tobacco Sales Act the following measures will come into effect:

•a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes and their liquids to persons under 19 years of age;

•vapour shops will have age and promotion restrictions;

•the sale of smoking supplies to minors will be prohibited and these supplies will be hidden from sight. This will include rolling papers, blunt wraps, cigarette filters, cigarette holders and pipes; and

•product displays and advertising inside a tobacconist shop or a vapour shop will not be allowed to be visible from the outside, and outside advertisement will be prohibited.
Effective January 1, 2016, flavoured tobacco, including menthol, will not be sold in New Brunswick. Waiting until January gives store owners time to sell flavoured tobacco products they currently have in stock.

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Ridiculous, but you can smoke on a golf course, of course. :crazy:

Again, the populace rolled. It's a test, mind you, for bigger things yet to come.

Its easy to start with the tobacco. The general assumption that its killing people are allready there.
On the biggest internet news site in Norway its a poll about the case:
46 prosent is for, 47 against and 7 prosent dont know.
Scary

On the biggest internet news site in Norway its a poll about the case:
46 prosent is for, 47 against and 7 prosent dont know.
Scary

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Perfect example of why democracy is such a bad idea.

I visited Oslo once, the dude who was supposed to have the plan (my sisters boyfriend) didn't do any planning, I had got us a very cool youth hostel cabin in Sweden, and after driving a crappy underpowered Peugeot up from Gothenburg all day we found that the hotel workers were on strike in Oslo and couldn't get a place anywhere...
...I could not believe it,

hotel workers on strike?

WTF?
It was a major hassle...

...but to see the Munch museum and Vigeland Park made up for all the drama.
Sweden was much cheaper though, prices seemed very high in Norway.
I wish that Mr. Moore would make a documentary about him committing suicide,

I'd watch it just to see his shotgun splattered brains!

I say that in jest, but really, that guy is morally bankrupt and wields far too much influence upon the gullible public.

imho

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It does represent an interesting social experiment...

Just as long as it does not effect the rest of us.

Interesting read about Norway. Didn't have any idea it was that bad.