Raising cigarette prices

Even a person who quits smoking and goes mountain trekking for health is tempted at the peak. Smoking a cigarette with a breath of fresh air is really good. One doctor said, “Smoking a cigarette under stress and blaming oneself for doing so is poison while smoking with a sense of satisfaction after doing something hard is medicine.” Yet how can a cigarette, a cocktail of 4,000 toxic chemicals, be considered medicine?

Park Jae-gap, a medical school professor at Seoul National University, launched a group to ban the manufacturing and sale of cigarettes in Korea. He plans academic activities, a petition drive and a constitutional appeal to stop the production and sale of cigarettes because moderate non-smoking campaigns cannot protect people from the “addictive drug.” He also petitioned for laws on the production and sale of cigarettes. Opponents say, however, that banning production and sale itself violates smokers’ right. The ban will probably not eliminate cigarettes from Korea, not to mention drugs.

The best way to reduce smoking rates is increasing cigarette prices. The World Bank said a 10-percent hike in cigarette prices reduces the number of smokers 4 percent in developed countries and 8 percent in developing countries. This is hard to expect, however, given non-price policies such as disclaimers on the product, limits on advertising, and strict control of non-smoking areas. Raising cigarette prices is quite effective in discouraging teen smoking. Higher prices reduced the smoking population among American high school students from 36 percent in 1995 to 25 percent in 2001.

The price of a pack of cigarettes in Korea has remained at 2,500 won (2.19 U.S. dollars) since 2005, or just half of that in developed countries. One pack is cheaper than a hamburger. Whenever the health and welfare minister is replaced, a cigarette price increase has been mentioned but ultimately fails due to criticism. Im Chae-min, who took over as health minister last month, said, “Smoking can be discouraged only when the cigarette price is raised to 6,000 won (5.25 dollars) per pack.” Smokers might complain that national health insurance takes money away from cigarettes, but smoking-related diseases erode the budget for health insurance.

Editorial Writer Lee Hyeong-sam (hans@donga.com)