Sir, – Eugene Regan (Opinion, September 7th) writes that a decrease in the price of cigarettes would lead to a reduction in illicit tobacco trade, to which you would have to say, “Of course it would”.
But while this is simply stating the obvious, I note with dismay the comments of Kathleen O’Meara in response. Voicing a mantra of the “Tobacco Control Industry”, she states that, “A reduction in price is not the solution to smuggling. High levels of smuggling exist between countries with similar legitimate tobacco prices and smuggling is also a problem in many countries where tobacco taxation and prices are very low”.
Using the same logic, Spaniards on holiday here must be flocking to our pharmacies to stock up on our high priced medicines to circumvent their low pricing at home. Indeed, they may also be panic buying their cigarettes here also, at a mere three times the price they can purchase them anywhere in Spain.
Eugene Regan is to be complemented for speaking the truth with common sense, while sadly, the spokesperson for the “Irish Cancer Society” appears to be out of touch with reality on this occasion. – Yours, etc,