Northland smokers struggling to make ends meet could give themselves a $100 a week pay rise if they quit the deadly habit, a health worker says. Tobacco products had a 10 per cent tax hike from January 1, the third year in a row the products, which kill 5000 people around the country every year, have had the rise as the Government tries to lower the country’s high smoking rates. The latest price hike has seen the cost of a packet of 20 cigarettes rise by about $2 and a 30g pouch of tobacco by about $4.50.

Already there has been an increase of almost 10 per cent in people seeking to give up smoking since New Year’s Day, said Sarah Woods, spokeswoman for national smoking cessation hotline, Quitline.

Northland Smokefree coordinator Bridget Rowse said smoking had never been more expensive, but there had never been a better time to quit the habit, with plenty of help available.

Ms Rowse said while it was not easy to give up the smoking habit, there were a number of products available, and all with a government subsidy, to help.

She said quitting smoking would be good for the person’s bank balance, their health and the country’s finances as it led to less spending on smoking-related illnesses.

“But the biggest benefit is that there will be fewer children seeing smoking as normal and that makes it less likely they will start smoking themselves. It’s about positive role modelling,” she said.

“Giving up is a great way of saving money at a time when the cost of everything is rising, but wages or benefits aren’t to the same degree. If you smoke a pack a day, that’s around $100 a week, $500 a month, and $5000 a year. You could take a family of four to Fiji and back on that.”

Ms Rowse said there were lozenges, patches and gum available to help people quit with a course of some costing from $3 to $6 a month, far cheaper than the price of one packet of cigarettes.

“Give yourselves a pay rise just at the time you need it most,” she said.

Proposals to double the price of cigarettes in the UAE may not be enough to make people kick the habit. The UAE is considering imposing a health tax on cigarettes that would see a 100 per cent price rise on a packet. Smokers told 7DAYS that if proposals to double the price of cigarettes, which are being considered by the government, were given the go-ahead it would not put them off lighting up. Shamsuden Mukhtar, who has been a smoker for 25 years, said: “Cigarette smoking is an addiction and people with a stable income would be more than willing to pay any amount to have a smoke.

The best way to deal with it is to enrol people into programmes to help them quit.”

However, tobacco dealers said they were worried about the business impact on the new proposal so they would consider absorbing a percentage of the new tax to maintain sales.

“Previously, any additional costs have been transferred to the consumer. But in the event where we feel that extra costs are threatening the flow of business, we would explore options of absorbing some of the additional costs in order to keep our business running,” said a cigarette importer in Dubai. However Head of the Tobacco Control Committee, Dr Wedad Al Maidor, is optimistic a severe price hike would work.

“Experience shows that the best way to force people to quit smoking is by making cigarettes more expensive for them,” she said.

Smokers should brace themselves for a fresh rise in the price of cigarettes when a new tax approved by the UAE and other Gulf oil producers is enforced at the end of 2012, an official was reported on Monday as saying. Health ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) endorsed the “health tax” at talks in Saudi Arabia in early January as part of joint plans to curb the consumption of tobacco in the region, said Dr Widad Al Maidoor, head of the anti-smoking section at the UAE Ministry of Health.

“The new law is intended to reduce tobacco consumption in the GCC and envisages the imposition of a new tax called ‘health tax’.…it will affect tobacco products and equipment used in its production and manufacturing…the tax will amount to 100 per cent of the product’s value.”

Quoted by the semi official daily Alittihad, Maidoor said the new law would be enforced at the end of 2012 after it is approved by the GCC finance ministers.

Cigarette prices have steadily increased over the past years following a series of GCC taxes and a surge in global prices of most consumer items.

Dealers said that despite the rise, cigarette prices in the region remain far below those in advanced countries. “In Britain for example, a 20-cigarette pack now sells for nearly Dh30, more than four times the prices here,” said an owner of a supermarket in Abu Dhabi.

Costs of smoking should not only be measured in rupees, but also in human lives. Tobacco use kills more than 100,000 adults in Pakistan annually 270 deaths in any single day. Smoking is linked with several diseases including lung cancer,emphysema, strokes and heart attacks. Our government seems to be addicted to the money generated from sale of cigarettes and is not willing to take measures that could cut down the sale of tobacco. Ours is perhaps the only country where instead of controlling tobacco use thereis a tobacco promotion board in the ministry working actively to enhance tobacco cultivation in the country.

Pakistan`s tobacco industry very proudly claims that they are contributing to the country`s economy.

A World Bank report says `tobacco is not good for any country`s economy.

In fact, it makes poor country evenpoorer`. A WHO message in this regard that `the alleged economic benefits of tobacco are illusory and misleading` is also unequivocal.

A major reason for the rising sales of cigarettes in the country is that it is available at a very low cost. If our government is serious about the health of the public, it should immediately increase the cost of a cigarette pack to Rs1,000 at least. This step will certainly decrease the sales of cigarette and thus help reduce the burden of tobacco-related diseases.

While a pack of Marlboro cigarettes costs about $6 in the United States, the price in Senegal is now a bargain basement $0.79, following a decision by Philip Morris International (PMI) to cut prices in the West African country. Marlboro, the world’s best-selling cigarette, now costs 400 CFA francs (79 cents US) a pack in Senegal, down from 650 CFA francs — a price cut of nearly 40 percent, according to Agence France-Presse.

Anti-smoking activists in Senegal are reportedly fuming over decision. They accuse tobacco companies of pushing into Africa because they’re losing business in the West, where there are increasingly stringent anti-smoking laws.

The head of a Senegalese anti-smoking umbrella group said it will ask the government to force PMI to reverse the price cut.

AFP said the company refused to explain the decision to slash Marlboro pack prices.

The US group Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said in a statement that the cheaper Marlboro cigarettes in Senegal is “a move sure to increase tobacco use among youth.”

“Senegal suffers from alarming smoking rates, with nearly one out of every three adults and an estimated 20 percent of youth already smoking,” the group said.

“It is imperative that Senegal’s government take action to counter PMI’s price ploy by increasing the taxes on tobacco products,” Matthew L. Myers, the group’s president, was quoted as saying.

“Higher cigarette prices are scientifically proven to prevent young people from starting to smoke and encourage smokers to quit,” he said.

Two new initiative petitions have met state standards for circulation in Missouri. One relates to taxation on cigarettes and tobacco products; the other relates to a municipal police force (see ballot language below). Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan says before either measure can reach the statewide ballot in November 2012, they each need the signatures from registered voters equal to 5-percent of the total votes cast in the 2008 governor’s election from six of the state’s nine congressional districts.

The signatures are due to the Secretary of State’s Office by 5 p.m. on May 6, 2012.

The ballot title for the petition relating to taxation on cigarettes and other tobacco products reads:

Shall Missouri law be amended to: create the Health and Education Trust Fund with proceeds of a tax of $0.0365 per cigarette and 25% of the manufacturer’s invoice price for roll-your-own tobacco and 15% for other tobacco products; use Fund proceeds to reduce and prevent tobacco use and for elementary, secondary, college, and university public school funding; and increase the amount that certain tobacco product manufacturers must maintain in their escrow accounts, to pay judgments or settlements, before any funds in escrow can be refunded to the tobacco product manufacturer and create bonding requirements for these manufacturers?

Estimated additional revenue to state government from this proposal is $283 million to $423 million annually with limited estimated implementation costs or savings. The revenue will fund only programs and services allowed by the proposal. The fiscal impact to local governmental entities is unknown.

The petition, which would amend Chapters 149 and 196 of the Missouri Revised Statutes, was submitted by Mr. Robert Hess, Husch Blackwell, LLP, 235 E. High St., PO Box 1251, Jefferson City, MO 65102-1251.

The ballot title for the petition relating to a municipal police force reads:

Shall Missouri law be amended to:
allow any city not within a county (the City of St. Louis) the option of transferring certain obligations and control of the city’s police force from the board of police commissioners currently appointed by the governor to the city and establishing a municipal police force;
establish certain procedures and requirements for governing such a municipal police force including residency, rank, salary, benefits, insurance, and pension; and
prohibit retaliation against any employee of such municipal police force who reports conduct believed to be illegal to a superior, government agency, or the press?

State governmental entities estimated savings will eventually be up to $500,000 annually. Local governmental entities estimated annual potential savings of $3.5 million; however, consolidation decisions with an unknown outcome may result in the savings being more or less than estimated.

If you’re a smoker, you know it is a costly habit in Florida. Some lawmakers are pushing to make the high cost even higher, citing a goal of cutting down on teen smoking. Not many people will disagree teen smoking is a problem that needs to be dealt with. A higher tax could even encourage adult smokers to knock the habit, but for those who won’t quit, it could be become quite the burden. At Cig-O-Rama in Tallahassee, if you’re looking for a deal, all you’ve got to do is pick out your tobacco and hit a button.

At the bottom of the machine, machine-rolled cigarettes cost you half the price of what you would pay for a carton of brand name smokes.

The man who owns the machine, Greg Haskins, said business is booming and it could get even busier if new taxes raise the price of cigarettes.

The new tax bill would double Florida’s cigarette tax. Haskins predicts the move would send more value-conscious customers his way.

Though he will get more business, Haskins feels the move would still accomplish its main goal of making it tougher for teens to smoke.

“I think it’ll be a better incentive for the young adolescents to try to stop that, because, you know, it’s going to be more money for them and it’ll be harder to find it,” Haskins said.

Statewide, one-fifth fewer high schoolers are lighting up.

When lawmakers hiked the tax over two years ago, Florida began raking in a billion dollars more a year.

Raising that kind of money in this economy is also a big selling point for the bill, but there is no guarantee the money jar will fill again.

If the tax were to climb packs of cigarettes to $2.34, many smokers could find they couldn’t keep their habit going.

If they stop paying for the packages, the extra money won’t roll into the money jar. But, there are folks like Ann Ladato who have been smoking for 30 years or more.

“If I had to buy regular cigarettes at that price, I’d have to leave town to buy them,” Ladato said. “[I'll] go to Georgia, or buy them when I go home for a visit in Louisiana.”

The bill faces a high hurdle.

The Capitol’s majority Republicans, along with Governor Rick Scott, have made it clear they’re opposed to any and all new taxes.

Even though they voted overwhelmingly to hike cigarette taxes in 2009.

The bills has been dubbed the ‘Youth Smoke Prevention Act’ and is sponsored by South Florida Democratic State Rep. Jim Waldman.

The Canupawakpa First Nation opened a new facility featuring discounted cigarettes and a gaming lounge on Wednesday. The First Nation’s chief said Canupawakpa is not breaking any laws because the facility is operating on land that belongs to the Dakota people. “This is our land…it’s not reserve land. It’s not provincial land,” said Frank Brown, chief of Canupawakpa First Nation.

The facility, named the Dakota Chundee Smoke Shop and located by Pipestone southwest of Brandon, is selling discounted cigarettes shipped in from a Mohawk territory in Quebec.

They sell for less than half the price of provincially-taxed smokes and First Nation officials said they’ll sell them to anyone.

Brown said the facility will also run Texas Hold ‘Em games and will feature 100 VLTs, which are on the way from Las Vegas, none of which they have provincial approval to operate.

But the chief said since they’ve never signed an official treaty with Ottawa, their own rules apply.

“My argument is what laws are you using? What jurisdictions do you have?” asked Brown.

The province said any store that sells tobacco must be licensed and only cigarettes marked for retail sale in Manitoba are allowed to be sold in stores, no matter the location.

The province said it will take action against anyone who breaks the rules.

The Dakota people said this is more than trying to make money off selling cheap cigarettes and running a gaming facility. With the support of other Manitoba chiefs, they’re challenging authorities to try and shut them down.

The chiefs want to negotiate with the federal government on a number of issues and hope the controversy over the Canupawakpa store will lead to negotiations.

Most economics textbooks say that governments cannot cut down the smoking rate through price adjustments because demand of the unhealthy products is not reflective of the cigarettes costing more. Basically, a vast majority of smokers keep smoking despite a spike in price per pack since it is an addiction similar to illicit drugs. Yet, experts point out that common sense in economics does not apply to the real world a full 100 percent and the correlation between prices and smoking rates is quite strong.

This means that Korea is required to come up with an alternative strategy to reduce the number of smokers ― instead of focusing merely on the expansion of no-smoking areas and carrying out anti-smoking campaigns. It has to push up the cost for smokers through heavier taxes.

Asia’s fourth-largest economy raised taxes on cigarettes by 500 won per pack in 2004 and prices have nearly stayed the same since.

“The smoking rates are closely correlated to cigarette values as demonstrated by the data of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),’’ professor Lim Byung-in at Chungbuk University said.

“The economic logic that lower prices lead to stronger demand works in the tobacco markets. In order to slash social expenses associated with smoking, Korea needs to lift the amount of won spent to light a cigarette.’’

Among the 30-plus OECD members, Korea ranks 30th in cigarette prices to be burned with the 7th highest smoking rate of 25.8 percent as of the end of last year.

Mexico has a similar problem as the Central American country ranks 28th in tobacco price and third in smoking rates.

In contrast, Ireland sells the most expensive tobacco products and ranks 11th in smoking.

“According to a report from the World Bank, non-price measures would cost 7.8 to 155.8 times more compared to fiscal measures in achieving the same effect on the war against smoking, which will eventually burden taxpayers,’’ a Seoul analyst said.

“The report also says that every time the price of tobacco products rises by 10 percent, the smoking rate drops by 4 percent. In addition, the World Health Organization claimed that the most effective way to curb smoking incidence is to raise costs for smokers through higher taxes.’’