Health This article is more than 2 months oldCrüed shock: Tommy Lee left fuming by Australian cigarette prices
This article is more than 2 months oldAsked to pay $62.99 for a pack due to the country’s high tobacco taxes, Mötley Crüe drummer expresses displeasure on Instagram with middle finger emoji
The Mötley Crüe drummer, Tommy Lee, has given Australian cigarette prices the middle finger on social media after finding out just how much a packet of smokes costs from a 7-Eleven in Melbourne.
The US musician reportedly visited the convenience store in Southbank on Sunday night to buy cigarettes, only to be left stunned that the Marlboro Gold 25s cost $62.99.
“$251.96 for 4 packs of smokes here in Melbourne!!!” Lee wrote in an Instagram post with accompanying emojis and a picture of his receipt.
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Allow and continueMötley Crüe and Def Leppard recently finished co-headlining a three-show stadium tour around Australia.
The bands shared the stage at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday 8 November, Sydney’s Giants Stadium on Saturday and Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on Tuesday.
But it was after sharing his shock at the 7-Eleven prices on Instagram that Lee attracted the attention, especially from followers who were quick to agree, some pointing to the country’s tobacco taxes – which are among the highest in the world – being behind the hefty price.
According to data collected by the Cancer Council of Victoria, the cost of a pack of 25 to 30 cigarettes (which used to be a few dollars in the early 1990s) has increased to well over $40.
And this increase could be continuing. In May, the federal government said it will aim to reduce the number of daily smokers to below 10% of the population by 2025 and below 5% by 2030.
Daily smoking rates in Australia are among the lowest in the OECD, with only one in 10 adults being daily smokers, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Australia’s high cigarette prices, much to Lee’s dismay, are an important measure in preventing young people taking up smoking, Prof Coral Gartner, an international expert in tobacco control and director of research at the University of Queensland’s school of public health, told the Guardian.
Gartner said “Australia meets international best practice in tobacco taxation level with 77% of the retail price of cigarettes made up in taxes”.
“The World Health Organization’s minimum recommended threshold [is] 75% of the price,” she said.
Gartner said it was no surprise “Tommy Lee is used to paying less for his cigarettes” in the US, “which falls well below the recommended level, with only about 37% of the price made up in taxes”. Buying a packet of cigarettes in the US on average costs US$8 (A$12).
She added: “If Tommy Lee visits New Zealand, he may also be surprised to find that cigarette prices are similarly high, with taxes making up about 83% of the retail price.”
While cigarette pricing is an important tool in preventing young people from taking up smoking, it should not be the only measure Australia relies on, Gartner said.
“Reducing the availability of tobacco, such as is happening in other countries, is an additional way to support people to quit smoking,” she said.
“Over the next few years, New Zealand will be reducing the number of retailers who can sell tobacco by at least 90% and also making cigarettes non-addicting by only allowing them to contain very low levels of nicotine. These measures are expected to have a much bigger impact on smoking than tobacco taxes.”
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