Coming to New Zealand: $100 Packs of Cigarettes?

Officials think higher prices will cut down on smoking

By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 23, 2012 8:53 AM CDT
Updated Apr 28, 2012 7:12 AM CDT

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Coming to New Zealand: $100 Cigarettes? — This file photo made Oct. 21, 2009, shows Camel cigarettes, a Reynolds American brand, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

While the US has been trying to disgust smokers into giving up tobacco, New Zealand has been considering a more direct idea: raising the price of cigarettes to $100 a pack. The Ministry of Health wants a smoke-free NZ by 2025, and the $100 price tag—which would be implemented by 2020—is one of the ideas being discussed … although officials admit it is "probably unrealistic." The plan seen as the most likely would make a pack of cigarettes a still-sizable $60 by 2025, Sky News reports. But, 3 News adds, Prime Minister John Key is concerned that higher prices may simply encourage a black market. (Read more New Zealand stories.)