Background: Tax on cigarettes in the UK is steep to pay for the treatment of smoking-related diseases. In France it is less, so cigarettes do get smuggled sometimes.

So HM Revenue and Customs have an advert on the radio, warning people not to buy illegal cigarettes, because they are 'unregulated, and may contain dangerous ammounts of toxic chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, benzene and formaldehyde'

Obviously, taxed and regulated cigarettes only contain moonbeams and pixie dust...

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"I worry that, especially as the Millennium edges nearer, pseudo-science and superstition will seem year by year more tempting, the siren song of unreason more sonorous and attractive." - Carl Sagan, 1995

Lie by omission? I don't think so. I mean, they can honestly say that "illegal ciggarettes" don't (necessarily) meet whatever UK tobacco standards are. Using that out of context to make it sound like these smuggled cigarettes are more dangerous? Yeah. But who takes those adverts seriously anyway? Is it an underhanded tactic to use? Yeah, maybe. But it's also underhanded to smuggle ciggs so that you can circumvent the tax. Doesn't bother me... of course, I live in the US, and don't smoke, so they could say that all people who smoke "illegal" cigarettes are stupid, fat, and ugly, and it still wouldn't bother me....but that's not the point.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

Amusing. I am reminded of people who tell me that I shouldn't eat tomatoes because they're full of toxins and then go to nightclubs and buy pills from people with names like Pigdog and Spider.

I'm a non-smoker so it doesn't affect me, but I still think it is dishonest of them and government dishonesty annoys me. They could just say 'pay the duty, because the nhs is going to need that cash when you get lung cancer' and couple it with an anti-smoking message.

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"I worry that, especially as the Millennium edges nearer, pseudo-science and superstition will seem year by year more tempting, the siren song of unreason more sonorous and attractive." - Carl Sagan, 1995

Shall we get started on Canadian prescription meds? I find it fascinating that the FDA is screaming bloody murder about prescriptions being filled across the border for regulated rates, claiming that the pills sold there aren't regulated by them.

Interesting...so Merck, Pfizer, Glaxo and the rest make two grades of medication. One for us full price paying American idiots, and another for you social medicine types with price caps? hmm...yeah, tell me another one. Doncha love gummints?

While in a California market, couldn't help but notice major brands selling for $5+, per pack---yikes!

They do say that in US, and that's why the illegal ones are illegal.

Lie by ommission? In the US, a straight-faced lie is perfectly acceptable, which is why we're better than you

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PW -- Plant Whisperer

I suppose a smarter ban would be on Botox in DC, eh?

Wait a minute, are you implying that the government LIES? Maybe this should be moved to the CT section.... lol j/k. All I'm saying is dishonesty in advertising is nothing new or unusual, so why expect government adverts to be any different? Altho, how boring would life be if ads all told the truth:
Wait, that IS more entertaining!

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.