Price Hike to Discourage Smoking

Nanfang Daily March 7

Top political advisor Liu Wenwei suggested during this year’s Two Sessions that the state should set the lowest price for any pack of cigarettes at 10 yuan ($1.4) to discourage adolescents from smoking.

According to a survey by Peking University’s Institute of Child and Adolescent Health, in Tianjin, Shandong, Chongqing and Guangdong, 32.5 percent of boys and 13 percent of girls aged between 13 and 15 have smoked cigarettes.

There are many reasons behind this increasing number, such as adolescent rebellion and the cool images of movie stars smoking on the screen. However, one neglected fact is the low price of cigarettes, making them easily accessible to adolescents. Liu highlighted a research result: Every 10-percent price hike leads to a 4-percent drop in cigarette consumption in developed countries and an 8-percent drop in developing countries. If cigarettes are more expensive, the desire of adolescents without stable incomes for this product will effectively be curbed. Although China’s laws forbid selling alcohol and cigarettes to adolescents, in real life, vendors still sell cigarettes to them at low prices.

To protect their health, there must be effective measures to keep them away from cigarettes. While low prices are a factor, schools should do more to persuade students not to smoke, and the ban on selling cigarettes to underage young people should be strictly implemented.