The use of legal, illegal and roll-your-own cigarettes to increasing tobacco excise taxes and comprehensive tobacco control policies: findings from the ITC Uruguay Survey

Abstract

Background Little research has been done to examine whether smokers switch to illegal or roll-your-own (RYO) cigarettes in response to a change in their relative price. Objective This paper explores how relative prices between three cigarette forms (manufactured legal, manufactured illegal, and RYO cigarettes) are associated with the choice of one form over another after controlling for covariates, including sociodemographic characteristics, smokers’ exposure to anti-smoking messaging, health warning labels, and tobacco marketing. Methods Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were employed to analyse the association between the price ratio of two different cigarette forms and the usage of one form over the other. Findings A 10% increase in the relative price ratio of legal to RYO cigarettes is associated with 4.6% increase in the probability of consuming RYO over manufactured legal cigarettes (P≤0.05). In addition, more exposure to anti-smoking messaging is associated with lower odds of choosing RYO over manufactured legal cigarettes (P≤0.05). Non-significant associations exist between the manufactured illegal to legal cigarette price ratios and choosing manufactured illegal cigarettes, suggesting that smokers do not switch to manufactured illegal cigarettes as prices of legal ones increase. However, these non-significant findings may be due to lack of variation in the price ratio measures. In order to improve the effectiveness of increased taxes and prices in reducing smoking, policy makers need to narrow price variability in the tobacco market. Moreover, increasing anti-smoking messaging reduces tax avoidance in the form of switching to cheaper RYO cigarettes in Uruguay.

Analysis of tobacco industry pricing strategies in 23 European Union countries using commercial pricing data

“…This is in agreement with studies in the EU, and elsewhere, demonstrating ongoing availability, and increasing use of, relatively cheap forms of tobacco, factors known to undermine cessation efforts 16 18 20 21. In this way, cheap and RYO cigarettes serve as substitutes for more expensive products,41–44 a phenomenon supported by the large price gap between manufactured and RYO cigarettes across many countries,31 and the country-level analyses presented here.…”

Prospective longitudinal study of tobacco company adaptation to standardised packaging in the UK: identifying circumventions and closing loopholes

“…In the lower price segments, tobacco companies implemented more name changes, introduced more new brand variants (including menthol and flavour capsules) and more RYO variants and placed more advertisements for lower priced products then they did for premium and midprice products. Other work suggests that RYO is a lower cost alternative to smokers who may otherwise quit and so this may explain the introduction of more RYO offerings in lower price segments 40–42. Similarly, menthol and particularly flavour-capsule variants appeal more to non-smokers and non-daily smokers compared with smokers and may therefore recruit non-smokers 8.…”

The economics of tobacco control (Part 2): evidence from the ITC Project

“…Curti et al 3 analyse how price differences in legal manufactured, illegal manufactured and roll-your-own cigarettes in Uruguay have changed smokers’ purchasing behaviour. They find that an increase in the price of legal cigarettes, relative to the price of roll-your-own cigarettes, has encouraged smokers to switch to roll-your-own cigarettes.…”