Smoking and the Bandits – Telly Talk
Tuesday 8th March 2011, 3:44PM GMT.
Telly Talk: From the perspective of a non-smoker, I found BBC1′s Smoking and the Bandits to be both interesting and thought-provoking, writes Sarah Jefferys.
With 80 per cent of the price of legal tobacco being made up of tax, it was inevitable that a mass illegal market would emerge.
Yet the size, skill and professionalism of the organised criminal gangs involved proved astonishing.
Through the documentary’s clever undercover filming, viewers were given a fascinating insight into an otherwise very secretive world.
Currently €10 billion are lost each year in Europe alone as a result of tax avoidance on tobacco.
‘Smoking and the Bandits’ was certainly an informative programme from which I learnt a lot.
However the sheer volume of statistics which viewers were bombarded with was, I found, both overwhelming and unnecessary.
Whilst watching I couldn’t help wondering whether the programme may actually, inadvertently, serve to promote, rather than discourage, this growing trade.
The filming revealed counterfeit versions of well-known brands such as ‘Marlboro’ and ‘Golden Virginia’ being sold on the street for half the typical shop price.
I found Panorama’s topic choice refreshing but felt it succeeded in posing very serious questions without providing any potential answers, which left me feeling rather annoyed.
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