26th Oct 2018 14:41
LONDON (Alliance News) - Hand-rolling tobacco should be taxed at almost triple its current rate to protect public health, according to a study.
This would push the price of the most popular brand in the UK from around GBP13 for the smallest 30g pouch, to about GBP25.
Researchers at the University of Bath and King's College London looked at the size of cigarettes rolled by smokers in the UK compared with Australia, the US and Canada.
They found that when governments put small, incremental tax rises on the cost of tobacco and when roll-your-own tobacco is taxed at a lower rate than factory-made cigarettes, smokers shift from factory-made to roll-your-own, and roll thinner cigarettes to keep their addiction affordable rather than quitting.
To encourage smokers to quit, the researchers recommend increasing taxes on hand-rolling tobacco in line with those on factory-made cigarettes.
The UK and Australia have adopted high tobacco taxation as a means of deterring people from smoking but both have significantly lower taxes on roll-your-own tobacco compared with factory-made cigarettes.
The researchers analysed data of 1,924 people from the International Tobacco Control Survey and found a 2% yearly reduction in the weight of tobacco in roll-your-own cigarettes, in both the UK and Australia.
Dr Rob Branston, from the University of Bath, said: "Taxation on tobacco is one of the best weapons we have against smoking but it must be applied consistently for maximum impact.
"Currently, smokers in the UK are turning to roll-your-own cigarettes because they are significantly cheaper than factory made, and they can sidestep small tax rises by eking out tobacco pouches to make more cigarettes.
"Governments in the UK and Australia need to monitor roll-your-own use closely and tax effectively if they want to fully protect people from deadly smoking-related diseases."
Dr Timea Partos, from King's College London, added: "Around a quarter of smokers in the UK smoke roll-your-own cigarettes and this is more common among poorer smokers as it is a way of keeping their addiction affordable.
"Roll-your-own tobacco has the advantage that smokers can use less tobacco to reduce the cost of smoking further.
"Governments around the world should increase taxes on roll-your-own tobacco and provide more help to smokers to stop."
The study, Keeping Smoking Affordable In Higher Tax Environments Via Smoking Thinner Roll-Your-Own Cigarettes: Findings From The International Tobacco Control Four-Country Survey 2006-2015, is published in the journal Drug And Alcohol Dependence.
By Rod Minchin, Press Association
source: Press Association
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