| Indulging in a weekly habit of drugs, booze and cigarettes can cost you as little as $41.40 in Laos and a whopping $1,441.50 in Japan, according to the Bloomberg Vice Index.
Bloomberg compared the price of a basket of goods — tobacco, alcohol, amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine and opioids — in more than 100 countries relative to the U.S., where your fix of the vices adds up to almost $400, or about a third of the weekly income. Here is the full basket of vice that Bloomberg is comparing: a pack of cigarettes, most popular and premium brands; a bottle of alcoholic beverages, including beer, wine and spirits; a gram of amphetamine-type stimulants, including amphetamine, methamphetamine and/or ecstasy; a gram of cannabis, including marijuana herb, hashish resin and/or cannabis oil; a gram of cocaine, regardless of salts, paste or base forms; a gram of opioids, including heroin and/or opium. |
Forbidden Cost of Vice? - Click to enlarge |
| However, looking at the basket of vices relative to income unveils a few surprises.
Under that criteria, high-income nations such as Luxembourg and Switzerland offer the best value. In Venezuela, however, rampant inflation means locals would have to spend 17 times their weekly wages for a bottle of beer, a packet of smokes and a gram of cocaine. |
How Affordable is a Basket of "Vice"? - Click to enlarge |
| Yet another reason to leave Venezuela (if you can). |
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