The price of a packet of cigarettes should be increased by 20p in today's Budget, the chairman of ASH, the anti-smoking group, Dr Luke Clancy, said yesterday. Dr Clancy was speaking at the announcement of a survey of smokers which shows that a third of them are encouraged to quit by higher cigarette prices.
Price increases, he said, were a very effective way of discouraging people from smoking. He believed they should ultimately be priced at £4 for a pack of 20 cigarettes.
"There is a direct relationship between cigarette price rises and stopping smoking, and an even more clear link between price rises and young people not starting to smoke," said Dr Clancy, consultant respiratory physician at St James's Hospital, Dublin. "The price of cigarettes is one of the biggest reasons smokers want to, try to, and, in fact, succeed in quitting. It is also off-putting for young people who may be tempted to start the habit."
The survey, conducted by Nicorette, also reveals that a quarter of smokers feel that smoking restrictions in public places encourages them to quit, while the Government's stop-smoking campaign has influenced more than one in 10.
According to the survey, pressures on smokers have an emotional impact, with just over a third saying they now feel like social outcasts when they smoke. Half of smokers admit to underestimating the number of cigarettes they smoke when asked by a doctor or pharmacist.
Of those surveyed, just under three-quarters would like to quit, two-thirds in the next three months.
However, according to an international smoking cessation expert, Dr Chris Steele, from the UK, cigarette smoking was one of the hardest addictions to conquer. "It is harder even than heroin or alcohol addiction."
He advised people thinking of giving up smoking that medical treatments, such as nicotine gum, patches or nasal spray, could more than double a smoker's chance of successfully quitting the habit. But, he said, each smoker's addiction to nicotine was different and different treatments would suit different smokers.
"A nicotine habit will vary according to types, strengths and numbers of cigarettes smoked, the amount of smoke inhaled, the number of puffs taken per cigarette and how much of the cigarette is smoked before discarding," said Dr Steele, adding that the approach should be tailored to the individual.