New Zealand $100 Cigarettes Could Soon be Possible

In a move to stop people from smoking in New Zealand there is a new proposal that would increase the price of cigarettes to $100 a pack.

An internal document by New Zealand's Health Ministry raised the possibility of upping the cost of a 20-cigarette pack by as high as 60 percent and would also add annual increases of 30 percent, Sky News has reported.

Cigarettes are currently around $16 to $17 a pack in New Zealand and Prime Minister John Key explained that he felt that the possible $100 price was "an awful lot" and feared that it could produce and encourage black market trades, Fairfax NZ News reported.

Ben Youdan, an anti-tobacco activist, said that it would be "realistic" to set the price of cigarettes at about "$30 to $40 a pack" and spread those increases over the course of 10 to 15 years.

The new price would work in conjunction with a comprehensive campaign to reduce the number of smokers in the country, now around 650,000, to nothing by 2025, according to Fairfax NZ News.

Cynthia Callard, executive director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, also stated that smaller steps should be taken in an effort to build to a smoke-free country.

"It's a good conversation point. I doubt it would be a good policy. Taxation is not my favorite tool. It puts the blame on the smoker as opposed to the tobacco companies and I would be concerned about the burden on household incomes."

Also as part of the effort New Zealand is trying to follow the lead of neighboring Australia, which is working on a plain-packaging law that would effectively replace brand names on cigarettes with a health warning.

 "Whatever it takes" was the sentiment put forth from New Zealand's associate health minister Tariana Turia, when asked by local media.