Dr. Chaloupka on Tobacco Taxes in New Zealand
New Zealand has been praised for its history of aggressive tobacco taxation, with a 10% increase in taxes on tobacco products every year since 2010 that has resulted in an overall average drop in cigarette sales of 23%. In light of the government's recent decision not to extend tobacco tax increases beyond 2016, Dr. Chaloupka was in New Zealand last week with a group of leading tobacco control experts to urge the government to reconsider.
During his trip Dr. Chaloupka was interviewed by Radio New Zealand National and New Zealand's national television broadcaster TVNZ about the value of tobacco taxes, their impacts on low-income populations, differential taxation, and the applicability of taxation for other substances like alcohol and sugary drinks. Check out the radio interview here and the TV interview here.