If you need cheering up don’t read this column – it contains the misery- infused thoughts of a middle-aged bloke who has just realised he has no control over his world. 

It also reflects that after four and a half years of remaining vigilant, staying away from people and being hyper-aware, I have contracted Covid.

Although apart from the things that you do differently if you have a cold or a flu’, like the testing and locking yourself away like Typhoid Mary, I have escaped the awfulness of the bug. I have had a mild sore throat, a couple of overnight body aches and a bit of sweating.

I have also passed it on to the wife who has come out of things largely unscathed as well and for this we know we are lucky.

Speaking of lucky and a jarring segue, we do live in the lucky country and within the lucky country, one of the luckiest districts in the Central Highlands.

But I have been watching with interest the news around tobacco stores getting firebombed down in the city – it is almost as if there is a new fire every time I flash up the TV.

There is obviously a little skulduggery going on although some of the vision is almost on the entertaining side with bandits lighting themselves up as well.

But by and large this must be heartbreaking for the business owners, with the illegal dealing in ‘darts’ being at the heart of the problem.

I don’t confess to knowing the ins and outs of the criminal ciggie commerce but it’s reported to be a third of the bunga trade that is illegal, which makes for a very profitable portfolio from cancer sticks.

If you Google a little deeper, you will find the police are running around busting the bandits and relieving them of their stash of smokes and the usual guns and cash that accompany such dealings.

There are also reports some of the cleverer criminals who have gone into cropping not too far from here. But why has this suddenly become a problem, a turf war and battle for control of that extremely lucrative black market?

It seems the government and previous governments are to blame. In an effort to tax the fag out of existence they have created a problem where there was none.

Yes, smokes aren’t good for you, but tobacco isn’t illegal. And I can brew my own beer, wine and spirits at home. And alcohol is proven to have large social consequences. People beat up on each other, drive cars that cause massive damage and ponder why it is they haven’t taken up professional dancing earlier.

But we are still allowed to brew, buy and generally write ourselves off every other night in an effort to think life’s not such a hard slog. And yet it is illegal to grow tobacco in Australia without the appropriate excise licence. It seems to be all about the tax.

The government is so hell bent on keeping its tax, even though the market is declining, that they are causing harm to the community they are supposed to protect.

I don’t for one minute believe they are trying to protect the youth from the perils of vaping, they are just trying to figure out a way to tax it. Don’t get me wrong, I think that smoking and vaping are equally bad, and at some point a weight on our health system.

But I like a wine and at what point will they tax the substance so heavily that it will drive it underground, gangland style?

Prohibition by taxation doesn’t work, it never has, humans will always find a way around the rules and those that rise to the top will make a tidy little profit on the way. Rollies rant over…

(Ed’s note: I blame Kyle for bringing home Covid. Had a massage with an unhappy ending.)

Detectives from Taskforce Lunar arrested an additional four teenagers last Friday as part of their investigation into incidents linked to the ongoing tobacco dispute.

With assistance from the Gang Crime Squad, the VIPER Taskforce and the Southern Metro Regional Crime Squads, warrants were executed simultaneously at five residential addresses in Springvale, Princess Hill, Cranbourne East, Brighton East and Preston about 7am last Friday morning, March 8.

Four boys have now been arrested and were to be interviewed by police. They include:

• A 16-year-old Springvale boy,

• A 14-year-old Princess Hill boy,

• A 17-year-old Cranbourne East boy, and

• A 16-year-old Preston boy.

In addition to four teenagers previously charged, investigators will now interview the additional four boys in relation to an aggravated burglary in Wonga Park, as well as two arson attacks at a Mill Park restaurant and a tobacconist in Ballarat last month.

A white Isuzu D Max and a silver Ford Ranger were stolen during an aggravated burglary in Wonga Park between 10pm on Monday 19 and 7am on Tuesday, 20 February.

The Ford Ranger was then used in an arson attack at a reception centre in Thomastown on Thursday, 22 February. It was later located burnt out in Bundoora.

A 20-year-old St Albans man was charged last month (Thursday, 29 February) in relation to that incident.

On Tuesday, 27 February about 3.40am, the Isuzu D Max was involved in an attempted arson at a Mill Park restaurant on The Link.

The D Max reverses towards the front door of the premises and a number of offenders exit the vehicle, with one reaching back in to remove a jerry can.

A witness observes the vehicle and runs towards the scene, causing the offenders to flee.

The same vehicle is then used the following day in an arson attack at a tobacconist on Sturt Street in Ballarat about 3.35am. The store was significantly damaged during the incident.

A short time later, the vehicle was located burnt out on Ballarat’s Eureka Street. A second vehicle, a stolen BMW X1 bearing stolen plates was captured on CCTV in convoy with the Isuzu.

The BMW was seized from a Springvale address during the recent warrants.

Four teenagers, a 15-year-old Springvale boy, a 14-year-old Mulgrave boy, a 16-year-old Mulgrave girl and a 16-year-old Pakenham girl, were charged earlier this month (Friday, 1 March) as part of the investigation into the incidents.

The investigation remained ongoing and anyone with information on any organised crime activity is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via the Crime Stoppers website.