Smoke Rings A-Go-Go (Marlboro Lights)

Name: miriamb

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Product:	Marlboro Lights
Date:	05/10/02 (7328 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: pls see op

Disadvantages: pls see op

Although I'm generally a good girl these days, having worn out my wild and reckless spirit a few years ago, I'm now left with but one real vice. I smoke. And dagnammit, I'm holding on tightly to the last clutches of hedonism. Let's pretend for a moment that I'm not actually addicted, but that smoking really does make you cool, clever, attractive and grown-up. That's why I smoke, honestly.

(And kids, as we all know, smoking is none of these things. It's very bad for you and if you start then you'll end up like auntie miriamb and never be able to stop again.)

But, after being youthful and rebellious (my Marlboro Reds teenage years), I found that I just couldn't take the thick, bonfire-esque smoke anymore. And so began my affair with Marlboro Lights.

Marlboro have a distinctive taste and type of smoke. Not a scratchy, cheap cerise polyester satin type smoke that makes me cough (think Benson and Hedges or Silk Cut), but a rich, burgundy velvety smokiness that you inhale deeply and has the potential for great smoke rings. I'm not sure how they do it (is it something to do with moisture?), but Marlboro smoke is sooo dense. Dense is I think the word I'm looking for, thick and syrupy and tar-laden. Reds seem to produce even more of it, but the Lights taste is the same; it just evokes images of Marlboro Man (kids - he died of cancer!), cowboys, Southern belles and wide open spaces. See, this is why they spend so much on advertising!

Even if you don't smoke, you'll no doubt be familiar with the Marlboro packaging. Red is the original, heavy version. Gold is Lights. Green is Menthol (yuk!). Sold in packs of 10 and 20, for the 20 pack boxes you also have the option of the Soft Pack, but you have to smoke these quickly or they go stale. Also there to balance out the novelty factor is that you need to take more care of your cancer-sticks. Put them down for a second on a

pub table and they're bound to get soaked through, rendering them completely useless. Don't try to dry them out with a hairdryer or on the radiator, once damp they are forever flawed, more's the pity.

Marlboro are not quite in the same premium class as Black Russians, but as far as mainstream brands go they are in the upper price range. Expect to pay approximately £4.60 for a pack of 20, which works out at 23p per fag. Given that one cigarette takes me 7 mins to smoke, this is just over 3p per minute of smoke-ring time. Extortionate!

The Philip Morris website states that their cigarettes are composed of 90% tobacco. The remainder is additives, the paper and filter. For those wondering what's in there other than tobacco, here's an ingredients list for Lights in order of content, as provided by Philip Morris to the EU:

Sucrose and sucrose syrup
Glycerol
Calcium carbonate (Cigarette paper)
Cocoa, cocoa shells and extract, cocoa distillate and butter
Propylene glycol
Licorice root, fluid, extract and powder
Ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer or polyvinyl acetate homo-polymer or starch (Adhesives)
Carob bean extract
Flavourings
Diammonium hydrogen phosphate
Citric acid and its tri-potassium and tri-sodium salts (Cigarette paper)
Sodium phosphate (Cigarette paper)
Guar gum (Cigarette paper)
Sorbic acid and/or its potassium and sodium salts (Tobacco sheet and adhesive)
4-Hydroxy benzoic acid and/or its ethyl, propyl esters and their sodium salts (Tobacco sheet)

Now maybe someone with a knowledge of chemicals can tell me what this means ;) Apparently, the undisclosed 'flavourings' make up the distinctive 'brand formulation', which is why they don't want to give away any more information. In case you're interested about the composition of other brands, have a peek at http://www.ash.org.uk/html/regulation/html/chemist ry.html



Now I know I really shouldn't smoke them. Not just because cigarettes are bad, but because of the Philip Morris empire and all that entails. But after smoking Marlboros for over 10 years, nothing else quite hits the spot. All my principles and ethics disappear round about now, don't they?

Ok and to the point of this op. Of course this is highly subjective, but if you really must smoke, I'm presuming that health considerations have already passed you by. Also, you're not fussed about the bother of emptying ash trays, the 2am panic that you need to find an open shop, the fact that you, your clothes and your home will all quite literally suffer smoke damage. But amongst the jungle of brands on the market, Marlboro Lights are actually quite a pleasant smoking experience. And the majority of smokers in the UK obviously agree with me. Just beware that first thing Sunday morning may not be the best time to try and get your hands on a pack - their popularity may lead to difficulties after the Saturday night smoking frenzy.

Marlboro Lights contain:
6mg Tar
0.5mg Nicotine

and are produced by
Philip Morris Products Inc of Richmond, Virginia

and are available Only To People Over 16 Years of Age

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