Price rise to help smokers quit?

Press, 3 April 1989, Page 8

Price rise to help smokers quit?

PA Wellington The latest price increase for cigarettes should encourage many smokers to give up, says the Health Department’s principal health protection officer, Dr Murray Laugesen. The new $3.80 price for a pack of 20 cigarettes was likely to make teenagers, those who were not heavily addicted and people aged over 35 with symptoms that smoking was affecting their health consider it was time to stop, he said. But the price for a packet of cigarettes as a percentage of the daily income was still lower than in many other coun-

tries, he said. The increase, resulting from a tax rise of about 30c a packet, was unlikely to affect smokers who were heavily addicted or those for whom money was no object. But it was hoped it would encourage those not heavily addicted to avoid becoming daily smokers. It should also discourage former smokers from beginning again, Dr Laugesen said. People over 35 who had been smoking for up to 20 years and were now getting symptoms that their health was affected would add up the financial costs and the health risks and conclude it was time to stop.