I think my local bodega is selling drugs. Am I crazy?

Does this place normally sell individual cigarettes instead of by the pack? I assume the answer is no (unless convenience stores in E Harlem do things a little different)
What do you think? I think it would be worth a call to the cops assuming you want to keep your neighborhood nice.

You said looked like a cigarette so I’m gonna say you might be paranoid. I know that some places sell cheap cigars (by the cigar) which look like slightly longer and fatter cigarettes.

You are probably being paranoid. There are many bodegas that sell individual cigarettes (or “loosies”).

I’m not a smoker so I had no idea that cigarettes could be sold individually. I suppose that’s the most logical answer.

Most stores here do. Mostly to people trying to quit. The person getting it probably goes in all the time so the clerk knows what they want without asking.

A lot of small stores in sketchy areas where very low-income people live will often sell cigarettes individually. It’s less common than it used to be, but it still happens.

When I was young, East Harlem was known as Spanish Harlem, and it was not a place you went, period. Not sure if they still call it Spanish Harlem? Haven’t lived in or been in New York in years. It’s kind of strange to think of it gentrifying, but then a lot of places have changed over the years.

Here in California with the extra taxes on cigarettes quite a few mini-marts will sell individual cigarettes. Helps when you can’t quite scrape together the $6 for a pack, or if you are trying to quit but aren’t quite there yet.

Selling individual cigs? Hmmm Sounds suspicious. If it is true, people are getting ripped off. Selling individual cigerettes is illegal and costs more in the long run to the poor soul foolish enough to buy them like this.

Ask the cop on the beat about it. Don’t make accusations, just offer your concerns.

You are seeing a loosey, which is one cigarette bought at the store from an A-rab. Apparently you don’t know black people :)

@bkcunningham :: How do you figure? The store by my house sells individual smokes (Pall Malls) for a quarter. A pack is four bucks so they make a whopping dollar for making twenty transactions.

“Selling individual cigerettes is illegal”

I’m going to call bullshit on this one. Taxes, at least here are paid on the wholesale level. The store already paid them when they paid to get the product in the store.

When I lived in Brooklyn back in 1983, it was said you could buy nickel and dime bags at the local bodega through a window a lot like the one you describe. So I wouldn’t be surprised if you still could buy pot at the bodega in various places around town. Whether what you saw was pot or a loosie, I don’t know.

Taxes, at least here, @johnpowell? Where is here? The store already paid the taxes at a wholesale price on smokes and doesn’t have to pay any other taxes? Is that how it works where you live?

You think the owner of a business can open a pack of cigerettes and legally sell an individual smoke without any of the required packaging labels required by the federal government? What state is this legal? I’m going to call bullshit back at you on that one.

“Under Federal law and regulations, dealers must sell cigarettes or other tobacco products from packages in which the manufacturer or importer originally placed them. Manufacturers and importers must place certain notices and marks on packages as required by 27 CFR part 40. Dealers must not remove the cigarettes or other tobacco products from their original package until the customer removes them, or until the dealer removes them in the presence of the customer. For example, dealers are prohibited from selling loose cigarettes that have been removed from their packages and placed in a jar for sale. Dealers should also check with their State agency for additional restrictions.”

http://www.ttb.gov/tobacco/faq_answers.shtml#t11

What’s the problem? So what if he was selling drugs? Are you afraid he will be arrested and go out of business? Are you worried that the drugs will bring down values in the neighborhood?

Here we have capitalism at work – a willing buyer and a willing seller. A price was reached and commerce took place. What business is it of yours if it was a smoke, drugs, or a dozen eggs?

My advice is – butt out until it affects you, which it won’t.