View source for Loosie

{{short description|Single cigarette}}
{{use mdy dates |date=June 2020}}
In the [[United States]], a '''loosie''' (or '''loosey''') is a single [[cigarette]] that is purchased or sold.

The transaction is illegal{{Why? |date=September 2022}} and commonly found in low-income areas.<ref name="huff_ILov">{{Cite web| title = I Love 'Loosies': In Defense of Black Market Cigarettes| author = Christopher Mathias| work = The Huffington Post| date = 2011-04-06| access-date = 2015-11-16| url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christopher-mathias/i-love-loosies-in-defense_b_845698.html}}</ref> The high cost of cigarettes due to increased taxation has been blamed for increased sales of loosies.<ref name="nyti_OnMa">{{Cite news |title=On Manhattan Streets, Loosie Men Sell Illegal Smokes |last=Goldstein |first=Joseph |newspaper=The New York Times |date = 4 April 2011| access-date = 2017-10-30| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/nyregion/05loosie.html }}</ref><ref name="oakl_Prop">{{Cite web| title = Proposed $2 cigarette tax sparks fear of sale of "loosies" |first=Sonner |last=Kehrt |work=Oakland North |date=October 19, 2016 | access-date = 2017-10-30| url = https://oaklandnorth.net/2016/10/19/proposed-2-cigarette-tax-sparks-fear-of-loosies/ }}</ref> 

In 2014, [[Eric Garner]] was killed when [[New York City Police Department|NYPD]] officers attempted to arrest him for allegedly selling loosies.<ref name="vice_HowI">{{Cite web| title = How Illegal Cigarettes Get Smuggled and Sold in New York City| author = Solange Uwimana| work = Vice| date = 2014-10-23| access-date = 2015-11-16| url = https://www.vice.com/read/i-spent-a-day-with-a-guy-selling-illegal-cigarettes-on-the-streets-of-nyc-1023}}</ref>

==References==
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{{cigarettes}}
[[Category:Smoking in the United States]]
[[Category:English-language slang]]

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