Cigarette Price Hike, Tobacco Consumption

Increasing cigarette prices by 50% would help avoid over 40 lakh tobacco related deaths in India, said a report released by multilateral funding agency Asian Development Bank. "A 50% price increase in cigarettes avoids about 27 million (or 2.70 crore) tobacco-attributable deaths, most of which are in the two most populous countries in the world. China would avoids nearly 20 million tobacco deaths, and India over 4 million tobacco deaths," said the report. For India, it said, the 50% rise in cigarette prices corresponds to increase of 70-122% rise in tax increase. As per the report, China, India, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam in Asia are among the top five of the 15 tobacco using countries that account for two-third of the world tobacco consumption.

Anxiety in Smokers, Cigarettes Addiction

Preclinical data suggests inactivation of a specific sub-class of nicotinic receptors may be an effective strategy to help smokers quit without feeling anxious, according to Virginia Commonwealth University researchers. These findings could one day point researchers to the development of novel therapies to help smokers quit without feeling anxious. Smokers use cigarettes for many reasons, but many report that they smoke to relieve anxiety, despite the health danger of cigarette smoking. Researchers are now working to understand the underlying neurochemical pathways that support smoking behavior.

Illegal Trade Hitting Tobacco Market

Cigarettes giant Imperial Tobacco has reduced the value of its Spanish business by £1.2 billion writedown after austerity-hit smokers turn to black market fakes in a bid to reduce the cost of smoking. The legal tobacco market has shrunk by 10% in Spain over the last year, said Imperial “Economic conditions remain difficult in Spain; high unemployment and increasing government austerity measures are placing further pressures on consumers and the duty paid tobacco market, with illicit trade a growing problem,” the group continued.