# Black Russian Sobraines cigarettes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 8, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-russian-sobraines-cigarettes/621237 "2012-05-08T01:53:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-russian-sobraines-cigarettes/621237/1 "2012-05-08T01:53:45Z")
Can you buy [them](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sobranie)anywhere in the United States? The smoke shop says they are too expensive with import duties. Every place on line that has them says they are unavailable. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-russian-sobraines-cigarettes/621237/2 "2012-05-08T03:48:20Z")
Now those are a blast from the past, I used to smoke them back in the very late 70s and early 80s. [I smoked regularly for about a year and a half, then sporadically for another 3 or 4 years.] I have not seen them in the US since the last smoke shop I knew of in Groton/New London CT closed, maybe early 90s. Maybe you could get some European doper to buy and ship some for you? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2012, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-russian-sobraines-cigarettes/621237/3 "2012-05-08T03:55:26Z")
Don’t know about those, but I asked a tobacconist in Virginia about Gauloises, and he said that they were illegal here. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2012, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-russian-sobraines-cigarettes/621237/4 "2012-05-08T03:58:48Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Don’t know about those, but I asked a tobacconist in Virginia about Gauloises, and he said that they were illegal here. I thought they just weren’t exported and distributed here anymore. Why are they illegal? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-russian-sobraines-cigarettes/621237/5 "2012-05-08T04:03:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I thought they just weren’t exported and distributed here anymore. Why are they illegal? He said something about their manufacturer not being a party to the [Master Settlement Agreement](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_Master_Settlement_Agreement) and because of that, they could not be sold. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2012, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-russian-sobraines-cigarettes/621237/6 "2012-05-08T11:30:56Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > He said something about their manufacturer not being a party to the [Master Settlement Agreement](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_Master_Settlement_Agreement) and because of that, they could not be sold. Damn, I bet that’s it. Thanks, all. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-russian-sobraines-cigarettes/621237/7 "2012-05-09T02:09:10Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > He said something about their manufacturer not being a party to the [Master Settlement Agreement](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_Master_Settlement_Agreement) and because of that, they could not be sold. Rubbish. There is no legal requirement to sign the MSA, it’s just unwise not to. And Gauloises are made by Imperial Tobacco, which is a signatory. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-russian-sobraines-cigarettes/621237/8 "2012-05-09T02:17:25Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > Rubbish. There is no legal requirement to sign the MSA, it’s just unwise not to. And Gauloises are made by Imperial Tobacco, which is a signatory. I don’t know anything about this, but I did find [this while Googling](http://tax.ohio.gov/divisions/excise/cigarettes/master_settlement_agreement/msa_notice_1806.stm) last night, which seems to indicate that it was illegal in Ohio for Gauloise to be sold, at least at some point in late 2006. Things may have changed from then, and state laws may vary, etc., etc., etc., but I don’t think it’s quite the bullshit you think it is. > [@](#): > > The following brand families have been removed from the Attorney General’s Web Directory of approved brands. Sale of this product is prohibited in Ohio on and after June 11, 2006. > > Manufacturer Brand Family Product Type Manufacturer Type > SEITA Gauloises, Gauloises Blondes, Gitanes Blondes, Gitanes ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-russian-sobraines-cigarettes/621237/9 "2012-05-09T02:35:15Z")
What the heck is “the Attorney General’s Web Directory of approved brands”? If you smoke them you don’t get cancer? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-russian-sobraines-cigarettes/621237/10 "2012-05-09T02:58:39Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > Rubbish. There is no legal requirement to sign the MSA, it’s just unwise not to. And Gauloises are made by Imperial Tobacco, which is a signatory. The MSA was actually part of the Sobranie story though, at least indirectly. It was a preemptive move to avoid getting caught up in the suit in the first place. I used to occasionally buy a pack of Balkan Sobranie at a tobacco shop in the US. When they stopped selling them I protested bitterly. The guy in the store at that time said Sobranie stopped exporting to US markets to avoid any legal liability ‘what with all the lawsuits being allowed to proceed against tobacco companies these days’. This [cite](http://www.examiner.com/article/sobranie-original-smoking-mixture-recreated-by-j-f-germain-son-ltd?cid=PROD-redesign-right-next)seems to corroborate the story: > [@](#): > > The brand was originally produced by Sobranie of London in 1920, and became a top-selling brand worldwide. But, it disappeared in 1998, when Gallaher Group Plc, withdrew its tobacco products from the US market in order to avoid potential liability from class action and other lawsuits.