Cigarettes should cost at least ¥1,000 to discourage young people from smoking — a price that would also help sharply reduce deaths caused by the public nuisance, according to two research groups funded by the health ministry.
The reports, released earlier this month, came as a group of lawmakers discuss a tobacco tax hike that would more than double cigarette prices to above ¥600 a pack. A pack usually sells for about ¥300.
The group led by Takashi Ohida, public health professor at Nihon University's school of medicine, surveyed more than 90,000 junior high and high school students nationwide last fiscal year and asked them how much high cigarette prices would have to be to prevent them from smoking.