How do 12 year olds get cigarettes?

[only_more_so]

So I went to have dinner at the local fast food place, and there were the usual gang of kids milling around. They seem to congregate there in loud noisy groups. Anyway, on this occasion about a quarter of the pack was outside smoking. I doubt if most of these kids were in high school, a couple of them I'd even put down as pre-teen. Certainly none of them looked old enough to buy cigarettes.

But there they were on the street smoking away. Eventually they left, and got replaced by another group of kids. The second group was holding the back door open which was letting the cigarette smoke and a very cold draft (this is Boston in the middle of winter afterall). So I walked over and asked politely for them to close the door. They complied quickly, probably because I asked so nicely, and not because I'm a foot taller, and bigger than the four of them put together (well, probably any three of them).

 

[3113]

So I went to have dinner at the local fast food place, and there were the usual gang of kids milling around. They seem to congregate there in loud noisy groups. Anyway, on this occasion about a quarter of the pack was outside smoking. I doubt if most of these kids were in high school, a couple of them I'd even put down as pre-teen. Certainly none of them looked old enough to buy cigarettes.

But there they were on the street smoking away.

The stores might not sell them the cigarettes because they can get into trouble, but someone working at the store might be willing to slip it to them under the counter for extra money. Certainly some 18 year olds/adults will buy packs for the kids for a price. And then, it's all too easy for them to steal it from their smoking parents.

It's sad because the younger someone starts, the harder it is for them to quit in later life, should they wish to quit.

 

[MagicaPractica]

Swiped from Mom's pocketbook or wherever Dad set them or stolen from bad placement in convenience stores. You'd be amazed at how many packs a store can lose in a night.

 

[3113]

They complied quickly, probably because I asked so nicely, and not because I'm a foot taller, and bigger than the four of them put together (well, probably any three of them).

Hmmmm...she said with sudden interest. A large man. Tease me with your stats big boy

 

[only_more_so]

The stores might not sell them the cigarettes because they can get into trouble, but someone working at the store might be willing to slip it to them under the counter for extra money. Certainly some 18 year olds/adults will buy packs for the kids for a price. And then, it's all too easy for them to steal it from their smoking parents.

It's sad because the younger someone starts, the harder it is for them to quit in later life, should they wish to quit.

It is sad. One day I even heard one of the younger kids say, "I need a smoke." Addicted that early... *shakes head*

I know all the mechanisms by which they can get cigarettes, but... On a busy street at 7 in the evening? It kind of disturbs me that it is so blatant. Although apparently in Massachusetts (and Virginia) it is legal for parents to give their children cigarettes, even though it is illegal for minors to purchase them. Maybe I should write my state representative.

P.S. 6'6"

 

[3113]

P.S. 6'6"

Swooon!

 

[rachlou]

Kids at my daughters school get their older siblings / friends to buy them packets. They smoke some and sell the rest (one cigarette at a time) to other kids at break, at a 100% mark-up. Thus making more money to pay for another packet. They're very enterprising.

 

[Guest]

The stores sold them to me cause they were "for my Mom". In this case, they were.

Maharat

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Back in the day, there was a cigarette machine in every gas station and other places. No one stopped you from punching coins in the machine. I notice the machines are gone now.

Last night, I ran to 711 for coke. Two kids stopped me outside and asked me to buy them smokes. I didn't, but I'm sure someone did eventually.

 

[LoquaciousLady]

Back in the day, there was a cigarette machine in every gas station and other places. No one stopped you from punching coins in the machine. I notice the machines are gone now.

Last night, I ran to 711 for coke. Two kids stopped me outside and asked me to buy them smokes. I didn't, but I'm sure someone did eventually.

Yeah, those were the preferred methods when I was a kid. I think the machines are against the law now, though.

I find it amusing at times, sad at others, that I've smoked since I was 12 and was never carded until after I was legal.

 

[only_more_so]

Back in the day, there was a cigarette machine in every gas station and other places. No one stopped you from punching coins in the machine. I notice the machines are gone now.

Last night, I ran to 711 for coke. Two kids stopped me outside and asked me to buy them smokes. I didn't, but I'm sure someone did eventually.

Yeah, they made the machines illegal to prevent kids from buying cigarettes. Of course, it's much harder to stop people buying the cigarettes for kids waiting outside.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Back in the day, there was a cigarette machine in every gas station and other places. No one stopped you from punching coins in the machine. I notice the machines are gone now.

Last night, I ran to 711 for coke. Two kids stopped me outside and asked me to buy them smokes. I didn't, but I'm sure someone did eventually.

I used to buy cigarettes that way when I was a kid, in the Fifties. I have never bought cigarets for underage persons, but I have bought them booze, many years ago, mostly for men in the military.

 

[pellso27]

from guys like me

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

from guys like me

In Oregon, there are still cigarette machines in liquor bars where you have to be 21 anyway. But even those are becoming even more rare.

I stopped at Malone's Public House to buy them a few weeks ago and their machine was gone. Irritated me badly.

Do-Gooders be damned!

 

[impressive]

At 12, I stole them from my parents ... 2 or 3 at a time.

 

[Liar]

They barter it with their blow, of course.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

When I was a kid we could always buy them from a cigarette vending machine , but somehow I don't recall ever having to. That was back during the brief time that I smoked, in fifth grade or so. (I quit when one day I caught myself eager for school to get out so I could go home and have a fag. )

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

They barter it with their blow, of course.

You are horrible!

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

I bought them myself when I was 16 at a small country store in Tennessee. I smoked for about three months then decided that I wanted to spend my money on other things and it wasn't worth it. Haven't smoked since. I've grown up around smokers though. But I know my sisters and I never had a problem walking in and purchasing them. It depends on the environment you're in. In our cases, it was a country bumpkin store in the middle of no where. The deep hollar' of the south.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I was just thnking of something. When I bought them from vending machines, they were 25 cents a pack. In a store, they were usually less.

 

[SlickTony]

I started in college, and I remember them being $0.65 or something like that in the machines.

 

[only_more_so]

I was just thnking of something. When I bought them from vending machines, they were 25 cents a pack. In a store, they were usually less.

Actually, they still are about 25 cents a pack... before taxes. Out of curiousity, I looked it up. State taxes per pack in NJ is 257.5 cents (national high) compared to 7 cents in South Carolina (low), and the average is 80 cents. Oh, plus the federal 39 cents per pack, which is apparently an all time low after inflation.

 

[R. Richard]

Actually, they still are about 25 cents a pack... before taxes. Out of curiousity, I looked it up. State taxes per pack in NJ is 257.5 cents (national high) compared to 7 cents in South Carolina (low), and the average is 80 cents. Oh, plus the federal 39 cents per pack, which is apparently an all time low after inflation.

Ah yes, state taxes. However New York City also has city taxes on cigarettes.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Actually, they still are about 25 cents a pack... before taxes. Out of curiousity, I looked it up. State taxes per pack in NJ is 257.5 cents (national high) compared to 7 cents in South Carolina (low), and the average is 80 cents. Oh, plus the federal 39 cents per pack, which is apparently an all time low after inflation.

Even then, there was a lot of tax, relatively. The least I ever paid was ten cents a pack when I was in the Air Force in Japan. That probably included no tax. Of course, that was almost half a century ago.