Naqaa backs SR35 as ‘fair price’ for a pack of cigarettes

The anti-smoking charity society Naqaa said the decision to put the price of a pack of cigarettes in Saudi Arabia at SR35 is fair and in line with the gradually increasing prices of tobacco in the advanced countries of the world over the past few years. The price increase of cigarettes worldwide has been effected in a bid to curb tobacco use and thus avert its harmful effects.
The director general of the society, Mohammad Almayouf, said the Kingdom is registering high rates of tobacco use, especially among male and female students, where the rates of smokers among them increased to 21 percent in 2013 compared to 15 percent in 2003.
Tobacco use among females increased from 3 to 9 percent during the same period, according to a recent study by the World Health Organization.
The study indicated that the number of tobacco users has increased five times compared to those trying to quit.
Almayouf said there is poor assessment of nicotine levels in cigarettes entering the Kingdom and it is thus no surprise that tobacco addiction is on the upsurge.
“The individual becomes addicted to tobacco within a week of starting to smoke. In the past, it used to take him more than a month to become an addict. Doctors and specialists confirmed that nicotine levels have increased due to the lack of censorship and supervision by the authorities, in addition to the lax enforcement of the regulations imposed on tobacco companies in this regard,” he said.
Commenting on the measures limiting tobacco use in the Kingdom, he said: “There are four suggestions which if implemented could help curb the increasing numbers of smokers with the most important one being to increase the price of a pack of cigarettes gradually within the next five years to cost SR35.”
He said that this was a fair price, adding: “From the experiences of advanced countries, the rates of tobacco use dropped when the authorities raised its price.
For example, the number of smokers dropped to 24 percent compared to 48 percent when the country gradually raised prices over a period of 30 years.”
He said the price of a pack of cigarettes was increased to ten dollars in the USA, and to seven pounds in the UK.
“The Kingdom is the second cheapest country in the world after Bangladesh in terms of tobacco prices. Raising the prices will ensure that fewer students buy cigarettes,” he said.