What's the deal with beer and smokes? (Glendale: sales, buying)

[Stixx]

As I mentioned in what was basically my "HAY HOW R YA!" thread, the price of beer and cigarettes here astounds me. I've more or less pieced together that, as far as brew is concerned, buying in bulk (30 packs) is the most economical way of doing things. Food City has Milwaukee's Best Light (which isn't one of my preferences, but..) for $13.99. But hard liq... which I gave up a long time ago, except for the occassional mixed drink... is cheaper than I've ever seen it anywhere. Is there any particular reason that beer is so expensive here and liqour isn't?


In that same vein, I've been perplexed since I got here about pints. Specifically, six-packs of 16 ounce cans. I found four-packs, which baffled me... but no sixers. Of 12 ounce cans, sure. But pinters? None that I have found as yet. I can't figure that out either.


Now, smokes... Smoker's Heaven over by 35th and Glendale has a vaguely good deal on my wife and I's brand... $5.30 after tax. For Sonomas? We payed under four dollars in NV on the way down here! And $4.10 in Portland, OR. Are there some super ninja taxes here or something? And is there anyplace better to get these things, i.e. driving to an indian res or some such?


And to ease any potential worries: my wife rarely drinks. I do NOT get behind the wheel after even one beer. And neither of us throws butts out the car windows. Hell, we don't even throw them on the ground if we're just standing outside somewhere (HUGE fine in Washington for that!). In case anyone wondered.

[ibarrio]

You can usually find good sales on Beer.

On Saturday I bought a case of budlight (with 2 free lower level D Backs tickets) for $13.99 at Albertsons.

The Cigs might have gone up due to the SCHIP tax...

[HX_Guy]

I think you can get better prices at places like Bevmo, Total Wine, or Costco/Sams Club.

[Rick Lee]

BevMo and Total Wine sell Maker's Mark 1.75 litre for $20 less than the Albertson's by my house. Buy your smokes online or from Indian reservations to deny the fed. gov't. some more money.

[fcorrales80]

I think Arizona just added about another dollar to the cost of a pack of cigs. My BFF smokes, but not in MY car LOL, and used to pay $7 and some change for Kamel Red Lights. Now, he pays nearly $9 a pack. I think that is CRAZY!!!

[Finger Laker]

i don't find it more expensive than any other place I've lived

beer is definitely cheaper than PA and cigarettes way cheaper than NY

i think you can find really good deals on beer, pending what you are drinking ....... basic domestics it's just finding which place is having the sale

i don't find bevmo to be cheap on beer, but really good on spirits and wine ..... their selection of beer is great though, which prior to them was one of my larger complaints about beer in this state - poor selection unless you went to AJs or some specialty store

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Theory #1: The price of beer is up because the McCains are trying to recoup the money that was spent during the election. Smokes are up in price because Obama won the election and has decided to raise money for the children by increasing the cost of smoking. He is not worried because as president he gets his for free now.

Theory #2: Another thought is that it is all those Mormons in the area that are using their vast resources to stick it to those that are not the same as them. They created legislation that has those that partake paying for their evil ways.

For those that don't get it, I am just kidding.

[azriverfan.]

I'm not Mormon and I enjoy drinking. Nonetheless, I'm glad it's expensive to buy beer and "smokes" here. I'm glad this state is sending a message. I used to occasionally have a smoke with drinks and didn't think one or two was a big deal prior to starting medical school. Like most of you, I had the same preconceived notion about smoking....it causes lung cancer. During basic sciences of medical school, you soon learn that smoking is a risk factor in almost every disease or pathology. I was just stunned how it correlates to so many problems like osteoporosis, prostate cancer, Alzheimers. Literally, it's a factor in almost everything. As a cardiologist, I would conservatively say that 75% of my patients smoke or had a history of smoking. I have patients that have completely normal lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides), were thin yet smoked for 30 years and have heart disease. And people think they are okay as long as they don't have a heart attack. Wrong, you can something called peripheral vascular disease which is your arters and veins don't work well and people can develop "venous insufficiency" in which they get these larg rashes from their calf muscles all the way to their feet in which their feet look like they have been infected with MRSA and they are bleeding and scabbing all the time and they have to wrapped on a daily basis because their feet are not receiving adequate blood flow. No amount of antibiotics can cure that because the underlying problem is poor flow that can't be fixed. You can seriously improve the quality of your life not smoking or inhaling second hand smoke. There are so many health implications that people are unaware of and just assume smoking is associated with lung related pathology.

[YAZ]

Spoken like a true doctor.

Can't read their handwriting and can't create a paragraph.

So.....increasing the tax on "sinful" vices is gonna stop folks from partaking?

What's next?

Chocolate tax?

French fry tax?

Red meat tax?

Hey, why don't we tax driving? That kills many more folks than all of the diseases combined.

Oh wait. We already pay registration, gas tax, etc.

The taxes "created" are not there for incentive to stop. They are there to increase revenue. See: Speed cameras, increasing of revenue. Just an example.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

I'm not Mormon and I enjoy drinking. Nonetheless, I'm glad it's expensive to buy beer and "smokes" here. I'm glad this state is sending a message. I used to occasionally have a smoke with drinks and didn't think one or two was a big deal prior to starting medical school. Like most of you, I had the same preconceived notion about smoking....it causes lung cancer. During basic sciences of medical school, you soon learn that smoking is a risk factor in almost every disease or pathology. I was just stunned how it correlates to so many problems like osteoporosis, prostate cancer, Alzheimers. Literally, it's a factor in almost everything. As a cardiologist, I would conservatively say that 75% of my patients smoke or had a history of smoking. I have patients that have completely normal lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides), were thin yet smoked for 30 years and have heart disease. And people think they are okay as long as they don't have a heart attack. Wrong, you can something called peripheral vascular disease which is your arters and veins don't work well and people can develop "venous insufficiency" in which they get these larg rashes from their calf muscles all the way to their feet in which their feet look like they have been infected with MRSA and they are bleeding and scabbing all the time and they have to wrapped on a daily basis because their feet are not receiving adequate blood flow. No amount of antibiotics can cure that because the underlying problem is poor flow that can't be fixed. You can seriously improve the quality of your life not smoking or inhaling second hand smoke. There are so many health implications that people are unaware of and just assume smoking is associated with lung related pathology.

As you stated and I am not Mormon either.