Tobacco smuggling is killing more people than illegal drugs

Analysis: Why combatting smuggling is a priority Tobacco smuggling causes around 4,000 premature deaths a year_four times the number of deaths caused by the use of all smuggled illegal drugs put together_but the UK government is not doing enough to tackle the problem, claim experts on bmj.com today. Professor Robert West from the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre and colleagues argue that more smokers would quit if cigarettes cost more, but at around half the price, smuggled tobacco is keeping the prices down. Around 21% of all tobacco smoked in the UK is smuggled into the country. If there were no smuggling, the price of legal tobacco would increase by around 12%. According to the authors, this would lead to 5-8% of smokers kicking the habit _ saving at least 4000 lives a year. A reduction in tobacco... [read full story]