Hiking Cigarette Prices Discourages Teens From Taking Up the Habit

July 1, 2001

WASHINGTON-A long-term University of Michigan study of smoking among 8th and 10th graders indicates that raising the price of cigarettes can prevent some youths from beginning to use tobacco products. The researchers examined three initiation points: any smoking at all (including experimentation), daily smoking, and smoking a half-pack or more a day. Depending on the type of initiation, an increase of 10% in the price of cigarettes decreased the probability that an adolescent would begin smoking by 3% to 10%.

WASHINGTONA long-term University of Michigan study of smoking among 8th and 10th graders indicates that raising the price of cigarettes can prevent some youths from beginning to use tobacco products. The researchers examined three initiation points: any smoking at all (including experimentation), daily smoking, and smoking a half-pack or more a day. Depending on the type of initiation, an increase of 10% in the price of cigarettes decreased the probability that an adolescent would begin smoking by 3% to 10%.