Snarky Behavior

Just a quick thought today, since I rambled yesterday, and the hour of happiness is quickly upon us:

Did you know?

A packet of cigarettes in DC costs about $5.00.
In New York City it’s around $7.00.

A duty-free carton of ten packs of the same cigarettes can be purchased for less than $20.00 (or roughly $2.00 per pack).

And a smoking-cessation plan (which takes an estimated 6 weeks of commitment to be effective, or all 3 steps of the 2-week courses of Nicorette CQ, at $55.00/ea.) costs roughly $165.00.

So, it’s expensive to smoke, and expensive to quit.

But what’s most expensive, is smoking with the intention to quit. That is, smokers who continue to buy packs in single quantities (instead of bulk) because they want to maintain the illusion that they can quit at any time.

Buying in bulk is an admission of lifetime addiction. It might be the rationally economical decision to make in the long-term. But it’s a decision that few actually make, because it means they’ve admitted to themselves that they can’t quit.

All of which makes me believe that Phillip Morris, which is legally mandated to advertise against it’s own product, actually profits on back-end distribution by promoting smoking as socially unacceptable.

Actually, if you really think about it, the only real danger to the industry is the threat of second-hand smoke, because that messaging encourages self-interested interventions. When individuals are left to their own devices, they tend to remain creatures of habit. Behavioral changes are just too difficult to make of your own accord.

If you know someone who smokes, and they’re still buying single packs, and not bulk:

• a.) they are addicted
• b.) they probably want to quit, but aren’t sure how or when
• c.) they need to know you’ll support them if they decide to try to quit

And the first time they’ll probably try and fail, because they won’t know what to expect. And they might be grumpy and tired for a stretch. But they’ll appreciate your support :)