With the price of cigarettes increasing, more and more people are trying to quit, and that's why ecigs and other smoking alternatives have seen a sharp increase in sales. For a minority of people, they will smoke no matter how much they go up, but the price is definitely putting people off starting in the first place I would have thought.
As bad as I would like to see my dad stop I don't really think he with if the cost keep rising so I feel that most other people will feel the same way. My Dad is 70 yrs old and suffers from COPD, Emphasema , and has bladder cancer. He has smoked Camel Non-filters for over 60 yrs and even though he pays almost $10.00 a pack now he won't even slow down and if he gets down to one pack he gets very nervous.
In my opinion the increasing prices of cigarettes may not discourage a seasoned smoker from continuing to smoke, but it may discourage people who are thinking about starting from getting into it. I think that although it is extremely important to help those who are currently addicted to smoking to quit, its most likely more important to stop the next generation of smokers from ever picking up their first cigarette.
Some persons may consider quitting but it takes a lot of will power to do so. Years ago when the cost of cigarettes started hiking, my grandfather swore he would stop as he was unwilling to pay such high prices for a smoke. He quit, oh yes but only for a few days. He eventually went back as he could not control the urges. Sad to say, he died from lung cancer a few years ago!
If prices of cigarettes rise, there will be a temporary slump in sales as addicts attempt to quit which means they desire to stop. As cravings set in, there is a psychological adjustment to the prices and the status quo prevails. Drugs whether soft or hard are generally expensive. Many addicts will go to any length to quench the raging cravings.
The nicotine in the cigarette is a highly addictive substance, which when people become hooked on it, it is extremely difficult for them to resist the urge to smoke. Therefore, a rise in the price would not diminish their desire to have a smoke. They would rather do without something else. I have seen where a rise in the price of cigarette had negatively affected the sale of the product for a brief period, however very soon after sales returned to normal.
Sad but true Explorerx7. This also goes to show that many persons would actually want to quit but they just don't have the willpower and necessary mental support. There was one individual I knew though, who actually quit when Jamaica had the first major hike in cigarette prices so it will help minimally.
I think people would rather cut back than to quit all together. Plus, if you do not have the money for packs of cigarettes, then you could buy tabaco and papers and roll them yourself for much cheaper. It might deter people, but the prices would have to rise quite a bit more for the price to ward people away.
No one quits smoking when the prices go up. Nomater the price the smokers will keep using the drug. Some people would rather starve than stay without one. Some steal just to get a fix. It is that difficult to stop if one is not willing to do it. So increasing price is not a good idea.
It definitely would not stop me smoking, it just means that I have less money to spend on other things which is quite irritating. A friend of mine would always buy cheap import which people brought back with them from holidays due to the price being 4x lower than the UK equivalent. Instead of higher taxation and prices, they really need to push vaping instead as I feel that would be a better way to stop smokers smoking and not ruin people who continue to smoke financially.
In the state I live we have a “sin” tax on cigarettes most brand names are over $10.00 a pack that is well over $100.00 a carton. The price has many having to decide if they want food for their family or cigarettes. It surprises me how many folks will spend $100.00 that will literally go up in smoke opposed to the endless other choices they could do with that money. For the common middle class hard working folks that live pay check to pay check the high price of cigarettes may very well detour them; however for many they will continue with their habit.
The price increases have been gradual, that's how come people complain at first but eventually go back. Price alone will not make a person stop, but it does help.
I've mentioned this on another thread- that the high cost of cigarettes was definitely a factor in my quitting -- along with several other things. As the prices rose I began metering them out. It wasn't worth having one just to pass the time anymore if I know I could enjoy the cigarette at another moment later in the day. I just couldn't justify spending so much money on something I knew was really bad for me.
When cigarettes went up I was smoking up to a pack a day. I drove by a gas station with an advertisement for $1.99 a pack smokes. I went in to check it out. There are 20 in a pack rolled in brown paper without a filter; they call them Smokers choice large “cigars”. There is no “sin tax” on them so they can sell them cheap. It took a few packs to get used to them and no filter and after about 5 years unfortunately I still smoke them. I have cut down to around 3-6 a day yet I cannot find the will power inside me to “quit” entirely. I guess I write it off when I ask myself how I could possibly fire my “trusted babysitter” after over 40 years. Yes I know there are many gory answers yet I just cannot break this filthy controlling habit. In my opinion price does matter however it is all and entirely a matter want, need, desire and will; smoking is an individual choice.
@greybird29 that's what most smokers that haven't quit have done. They went and looked for alternatives, the amount of people that have started rolling their own has increased exponentially. Yet, even with this increase there are less smokers. Have you read "Allen Carr's - Easy way to quit smoking" it might give you that extra push that you need.