Roll-your-own cigarettes in Europe

Abstract

Objective Excise duties on roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco, which are generally based on RYO cigarettes containing 1g of tobacco, are lower than duties on factory-made (FM) cigarettes. This provides a price-incentive for smokers to switch to RYO, use of which is increasing across Europe. To effectively approximate duties on the two types of products requires accurate data on the weight of RYO cigarettes. We provide updated information on RYO use and RYO cigarette weight across Europe. Methods From a representative face-to-face survey conducted in 2010 in 18 European countries (Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, England, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden), we considered data from 5158 current smokers aged ≥15 years, with available information on daily consumption of, separately, FM and RYO cigarettes. Results In Europe, 10.4% of current smokers (12.9% of men and 7.5% of women) were "predominant" RYO users (i.e., >50% of cigarettes smoked). This proportion was highest in England (27.3%), France (16.5%) and Finland (13.6%). The median weight of one RYO cigarette is 0.75g (based on 192 smokers consuming exclusively RYO cigarettes). Conclusion The proportion of RYO smokers is substantial in several European countries. Our finding on the weight of RYO cigarettes is consistent with the scientific literature and industry documents showing that the weight of RYO cigarettes substantially lower than that of FM ones. Basing excise duties on RYO on an average cigarette weight of 0.75g rather than 1g would help increase excise levels to those on FM cigarettes.

Keeping smoking affordable in higher tax environments via smoking thinner roll-your-own cigarettes: Findings from the International Tobacco Control Four Country Survey 2006–15

“…However, our result is in line with previous results observed by Gallus for countries such as Spain and Finland(Gallus et al, 2014), so it is certainly plausible. Nevertheless, interpretations of our findings for the USA should be mindful of the small sample sizes, both herein and the previous studies, and also that our results are derived from an aggregation across several survey waves which might be masking a change in RYO usage over time.…”

“…switch) to relatively cheap RYO cigarettes, and/or adjust how they smoke RYO, instead of quitting(Hiscock et al, 2017; Partos et al, 2017; Ross et al, 2011). Indeed such behaviour will likely increase smoking-related socio-economic disparities since disadvantaged smokers, and those living in particular geographic areas have greater levels of RYO use(Gallus et al, 2014; Licht et al, 2011; Young et al, 2012). …”

“…Only seven studies have previously considered the weight of tobacco used in RYO cigarettes(Darrall and Figgins, 1998; Gallus et al, 2013; Gallus et al, 2014; Koszowski et al, 2014; Laugesen et al, 2009; Rosenberry et al, 2013; Shahab et al, 2008). In all of these, participant numbers were low (n=26 to 192), and predominantly male (71% to 100%).…”

“…Mean weights were found to be: 0.497g in NZ in 2009(Laugesen et al, 2009); 0.74 g (±0.35g) in Italy during 2011–12(Gallus et al, 2013); in the UK 0.505g in 1998 (range 0.328g to 0.818g)(Darrall and Figgins, 1998) and 0.511g (95% CI 0.476g to 0.548g) in 2008(Shahab et al, 2008); and in the USA 0.450g in 2013 (range 0.18g-0.94g)(Rosenberry et al, 2013), and 0.4g (± 0.2g) in 2014(Koszowski et al, 2014). The 2014 study by Gallus et al(2014) (n=192) finds considerable variation in the self-reported median weight of tobacco used across 18 European countries (0.48g England - 1.15g Spain), and also within each country (e.g. England 0.34g – 0.71g interquartile range).…”

Impact of tobacco tax increases and industry pricing on smoking behaviours and inequalities: a mixed-methods study

“…Of the remaining 1924 individuals (providing 3793 observations), we excluded a further 410 observations for missing information (86 observations for incomplete data on other variables of interest and 121 observations for likely misreporting of RYO tobacco weights). For the latter, we used the criteria reported by Gallus and colleagues, 234 by excluding anyone with a weight per cigarette of < 0.1 g or > 3.0 g. The final sample therefore consisted of 1639 individuals who provided 3176 observations over the six surveys (averaging 1.9 observations per participant). Characteristics for this sample are displayed in Table 19.…”