Your comments on Smoke Rings

Thank you for all your e-mails, here is a selection of your comments on Crooked Britain: Smoke Rings.

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I was not convinced by the Tobacco Industry representative's crocodile tears. 'Proper' cigarettes kill thousands - all they are interested in is protecting their profits from a deadly product?

Isn't it better for the government to tax something harmful rather than anything else?
Paul Hooper, Birmingham

Crooked smoke rings, taxes, tobacco companies - is there any difference? Don't you think you're getting ripped off already by just being addicted to Nicotine? A Non-smoker

Who do you think you are kidding. The only concern of government is that they get the tax of cigarettes rather than how harmful they are. Ok, so we die a bit earlier with counterfeit ones but we still die so spare us your "concern". It's about taxes not health.
Peter Neill, Belfast

I don't think it's of any great surprise to anyone that counterfeit goods are manufactured in places like Singapore, or that such goods are sold in poor and deprived areas of London, where people will do just about anything to make ends meet. I found the hubris of your reporter in dealing with this East End small fry distasteful - and not a little prejudiced. Surely a more useful expose would have been the tracking down of the people who smuggle this stuff into the country, who have thus far, according to your programme, eluded customs & excise officers. This is journalism that is all form and no substance - the poorest kind.
Miguel Cabron, London

Smoke Rings was very informative. Surely government should enforce stricter customs and excise laws. If people don't buy fake cigs gangs wouldn't be financed! Scary!
Mairead Cunningham, Enniskillen

What a brilliant programme, but I am now very concerned. Is rolling tobacco also subject to counterfeit? If we thing that the tobacco we buy is not as it seems what can we do?
John Blakesley

I have just watched your programme with great interest. Your host called these people crooks, if these people are crooks then what are the British government? Good luck to all these people who sell fake goods, at least we get them at a decent price!!!!!!
Dave, Bristol

I notice your man didn't bother to brace the Chinese supplier in Singapore with the "I'm a BBC reporter..." routine!
Doug Smoke

I am dismayed that we fill our evening schedules and viewing with items that warn-off other criminals from dealing with people they don't know but might be investigating journalists. It seems to me your material should be given straight to the police without having to put yourselves in front of the camera. You can always get credit in due course as thereby greatly assisting the community. Programmes like this on BBC Two are on the wrong channel. We do not need to be educated about criminal activity and we do want the authorities to have every advantage in fighting these goings on.
John Malet-Bates, London

At the end of the day what did you achieve? Did you get any conviction? Is there any prosecution pending? If none of the above is going to happen, why not? And hence the quote tomorrows fish and chip paper.
Grant Scheffer, London

What a very good job Mike Radford did with this expose. As a cigarette smoker and after learning what goes into these "snide" cigarettes I could never ever smoke them. Even though they were analysed they had plastic etc. Who knows what else would go into them. I will never ever if offered cheap cigarettes buy them. It would definitely lead to a shorter life span if you bought these cigarettes.
John Atkinson, St Annes, Lancashire

Excellent investigation. Will action be taken against these crooks by the Police as the evidence is overwhelming.
Mary, Southampton

Very interesting program but ... no reference to any Police involvement and if the fake cigarettes produce so much poison to any smoker why burn them at the end of the program?
Clive Chambers, Nottingham

It is the government that are ripping off consumers, paying £5.00 per packet of cigs is a total rip off. Counterfeit cigs, pls compare the cost to other European countries? Some of those people may be criminals, but others are not. They are just trying to make a living and providing consumers with what they need, a simple packet of cigs!!!
Anon

I'm not a smoker, but as long as the UK government imposed such high tax on cigarettes this will continue to be a lucrative criminal market.
B.Knowles, Sheffield

It's alarming just how "commonplace" this practice is. I couldn't believe that even some shops are ripping off customers with counterfeit products. Hopefully this programme will help highlight the problem and help reduce the problem on our streets. Excellent journalism - the BBC at it's best.
Mike Holbrough, Manchester

Shouldn't you be questioning the morality of governments companies making profits on something that causes cancer?
Neil King, Gainsborough

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Crooked Britain: Smoke Rings was broadcast on BBC Two on Tuesday, 14 January, 2003.