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Thursday 18th March, 2010

Cough Up: Balancing tobacco income and costs in society

By Robert Nash and Henry Featherstone

Smoking is the single, largest preventable cause of serious ill health and kills tens of thousands of people in England every year.  It is a popular myth that smoking is a net contributor to the economy – our research finds that every single cigarette smoked costs the country 6.5 pence.   In order to balance income and costs, tobacco duty should be progressively increased until the full societal cost of smoking is met through taxation.

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If you would like a hard copy of this report priced at £4 + £1p&p then please email: janet.batterbee@policyexchange.org.uk

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