Cost of a cigarette reaches nearly $2

The cost of a single cigarette is reaching nearly $2 as New Zealand’s smokefree deadline looms.

The latest rise in a series of annual taxbased price increases on cigarettes comes into effect on New Year’s Day meaning a pack of 25 cigarettes will cost more than $40. Throughout 2018, the price of a pack has hovered around $38, according to Statistics NZ.

Ha¯ pai Te Hauroa Ma¯ ori Public Health is calling on the Government to use more of that tax raised on stopping those who still can’t kick the habit.

The Government has set a goal of having fewer than 5 per cent of New Zealanders smoking by 2025. According to Smokefree New Zealand, about 16 per cent of Kiwis currently smoke.

Increasing the cost of cigarettes was effective in stopping people from smoking but there remained an issue that while pakeha New Zealand smoking rates had dropped significantly, the drop was far less for Ma¯ ori, a Ha¯ pai Te Hauora statement said. ‘‘The positive effects of the tax hikes seem to be limited to the more privileged among us,’’ chief executive Selah Hart said.

Australian research showed that poorer people were likely to quit when tax hikes first came in but were more likely to relapse, she said. ‘‘To support low-income smokers in quitting, we need to stop punishing them and start redistributing the money from tobacco sales more effectively,’’ she said.

‘‘As long as tobacco is still for sale in Aotearoa, the tax paid on it should be earmarked for the communities that are suffering the most from tobacco harm.’’

National Tobacco Control Advocacy Service at Ha¯ pai Te Hauora general manager Mihi Blair supported the price hikes but said it was time to start something new. ‘‘Instead of placing the onus on those suffering from tobacco addiction, the Government needs to use the money generated from these taxes to actually invest into a range of comprehensive and strategic public health, harm reduction and disease prevention measures to help reduce our rates of smoking for those who have not yet been able to quit.’’

Statistics NZ figures show that the excise duty has risen from 31 cents per cigarette to 82.7 cents on January, 2018. GST is applied on top of that. The-year-onyear increases are scheduled to stop after this New Years’ Day.

The Cancer Society has put more pressure on the Government to reduce smoking rates too, by asking it to reduce the number of shops allowed to sell cigarettes and tobacco products. It called yesterday for new legislation that would mean smoking products could only be sold by a small number of specified retailers.