Stop smoking!

Stop smoking!

The UAE is planning to increase the price of cigarettes to help smokers ditch the habit. Do you think it will work?

January 14, 2010 2:29 by kippreport

While Kipp has written a lot about the UAE’s new law on tobacco, we still have our doubts about how much many smokers the law will help kick the habit. However, the health ministry’s latest proposal to double the price of a packet of 20 cigarettes to about AED14 could have an impact.

According to a report in The National, the price hike is just one of the many anti-smoking measures that are being considered by the ministry.

“We would like to increase the cost, but this is not possible through increases in the import tax,” Wedad al-Maidour, the head of health ministry’s tobacco control team told the paper. “We can, however, raise the cost through increases in different taxes.”

“In the first stage we would aim to double the price of a packet of cigarettes. We would also increase the price regularly, maybe every five years,” she said.

The ministry is also planning to introduce graphic warnings and other such images on the packaging, to deter smokers.

One half of Kipp (the one who actually works and doesn’t smoke) has been trying to convert the other half and many others into non-smokers for many years now. However, sweet words, harsh words, scary numbers, and emotional blackmail have all failed.

And that’s the reason why we are skeptical about the law.

Are you a smoker? If yes, what do you think will help you quit the habit?