Budget bonus to quit smoking

By JOSIE CLARKE and NZPA

Smokers will be offered further financial incentives to quit in next Thursday's Budget, says Otaki MP Judy Keall.

The health select committee chairwoman said the Budget would provide higher subsidies on nicotine substitutes, making them considerably cheaper than cigarettes.

Increased funding for health would be particularly targeted at low-income people having difficulty giving up cigarettes, Mrs Keall said.

"It's no use just taking a punitive approach with smoking bans. It's got to coincide with education."

Like many New Zealanders, Mrs Keall took up smoking as a student, but gave it up in her 20s, "when I got more sense."

But smokers are still lighting up despite recent tax increases, say retailers.

Last month, Parliament raised the excise tax on tobacco by 14 per cent - about $1.30 a packet of 20 - almost double the previous tax increase in 1998. A pack now costs $6.75 to $9.50.

The Government said it hoped the extra tax would raise $110 million and cut consumption by about 7 per cent, but a Herald survey of retailers found that few had noticed much change.

Pak 'n Save Henderson tobacco products buyer Paul Tucker said the increase had not affected sales. "Unfortunately, that's not the way to stop people smoking."

New World Victoria Park cigarette buyer Raymond Webb also said sales were steady.

"Customers gasp at how much they've gone up, but they're still buying. I did hear one little old lady say she'd quit smoking with the next price rise."

The owner of Rotorua's Western Heights Four Square and Lotto, Vinesh Kumar, said very few of his customers had quit. The majority had told him that they would smoke regardless of how much it cost.

World Health Organisation statistics show that 26 per cent of New Zealand men and 24 per cent of women smoke.

Health New Zealand's Dr Murray Laugesen said smokers were sensitive to price increases and a sales decline was inevitable. He expected a drop of 15 per cent for the year beginning this month, based on the 10 per cent fall recorded after the 1998 price rise.

Action on Smoking and Health director Trish Fraser said the news from retailers was disappointing, but it was probably too early to predict trends. The Government needed to subsidise nicotine replacement therapy, especially for lower socio-economic groups.

The Libertarianz Party plans to give away cigarettes in Rotorua's City Focus shopping centre from 10 am tomorrow.

It says the Government has given smokers a raw deal and it wants to highlight the injustice of the tax rise and emphasise freedom of choice.