Daily Star

END OF ROAD FOR ROLLIES?

Tax hike plea in war on smoking

- By NICHOLAS BIEBER news@dailystar.co.uk

ROLL-UP cigarettes are facing a huge tax hike.

Health campaigner­s are demanding the price increase to force smokers to quit.

The taxman currently gets 30p for every ready-made cigarette but takes just half that for the equivalent hand-rolled fag.

And a shock study has found smokers who roll their own cigarettes are less likely to qui the habit than those who buy packs of 20.

The research found just a sixth of those who use loose tobacco are “highly motivated to quit” compared to a fifth who smoke ready-made cigarettes.

Smokers of rolling tobacco spend nearly half of what those who smoke packet cigarettes do – paying an average of £14.33 a week compared to £26.79 for the ready-made version..

And it was discovered that although those who roll their own and those who buy ready-made fags smoke the same amount, cost was the main reason for not wanting to stop. So campaigner­s have now called for higher taxes on rolling tobacco to spur rollie smokers into stopping. Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said: “The evidence is clear, access to cheaper roll-your-own tobacco makes it less likely smokers will quit.”

Dr Sarah Jackson of University College London, lead author of the study, said: “Cost is consistent­ly reported by smokers as one of the primary motives for quitting. “Roll-your-own users may be more able to afford to continue to smoke and therefore less inclined to try to quit.”

 ??  ?? PRICE THREAT: A roll-up cig
PRICE THREAT: A roll-up cig

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