Illegal Cigarettes: A Great Deal More Than You Bargained For

September 22, 2014- Disturbing news comes from the United Kingdom, where Local Government Association (LGA) officials are warning consumers that black market cigarettes could be filled with toxic substances including human excrement, dead flies and asbestos. 

A recent post on the Independent.co.uk website quotes the LGA as saying people should "think twice" before purchasing cigarettes from the black market as all three of those substances have been found in counterfeit cigarettes.

The LGA also says that fake cigarettes pose a fire risk, damage legitimate businesses and cost the UK economy about £3 billion annually in unpaid duty.

A complete list of substances found in samples of counterfeit cigarettes included asbestos, mold, dust, dead flies, rat droppings and human excrement. The Independent also writes that many samples featured much higher levels of toxic ingredients such as tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide, lead, cadmium and arsenic than genuine cigarettes.

"Counterfeit tobacco being sold cheaply through the black market by rogue traders is hampering council efforts to reduce smoking," says Joanna Spicer, vice chair of the LGA's safer and stronger communities board. "This illicit trade is also funding organized criminal gangs, damaging the livelihoods of honest businesses and costing taxpayers billions of pounds a year."

Spicer continued, "People buying cheap cigarettes might think they are getting a great deal — but the truth is that they're not. If they knew what they might contain, they might think twice about buying them."

Read the full Independent.co.uk post, Illegal Cigarettes Could Be Filled With Human Excrement, Dead Flies And Asbestos, here.

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