Zeitschrift für Suchtforschung und -therapie

Abstrakt

Smoking: Disease or Therapy

Mazen Saleh

During the past 20 years Canada and several other state members of the WHO have been using regular sales tax increases as part of a policy to curb tobacco use. The WHO recent report (2015) on tobacco use classifies smoking as a disease. This report shows that the effect of tax increase on tobacco use is marginal and is difficult to isolate from the effects of other tobacco use measures such as restrictions on marketing, sales to minors, and public education. It is proposed that the unreasonable increase in tobacco taxes introduces additional stress on the smokers and further compromises their health. It is further proposed that tobacco use is treated as a form of selftherapy rather than a disease.