TY - JOUR T1 - Keeping tobacco cheap: how tobacco companies undermine government tax measures JF - Tobacco Control JO - Tob Control SP - 483 LP - 483 DO - 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2018-054645 VL - 27 IS - 5 AU - Ruth E Malone Y1 - 2018/09/01 UR - http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/27/5/483.abstract N2 - Tobacco taxation is widely acknowledged to be among the most effective tobacco-control measures.1 Higher tobacco taxes reduce consumption, discourage initiation and, when so earmarked, provide revenue to help support public health programmes. But for tobacco taxes to accomplish all three goals, they must be effectively implemented.As Hiscock and colleagues demonstrate in this issue,2 even when tobacco taxes are increased regularly, tobacco companies cleverly undermine them using a variety of strategies. These include introducing cheaper products, changes in pack sizes, price-marking and undershifting, where companies absorb at least temporarily the difference in price so that consumers experience little to no change when taxes increase (and thus are less likely to try to quit as a result of the tax increase). … ER -