Smuggled tobacco kills more than illegal drugs

LONDON (Reuters) - A fifth of all tobacco smoked in Britain is smuggled in and at least 4,000 people die as a result, researchers said Friday.

They urged the government to follow other European Union countries and sign agreements with Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco to fight smuggling and counterfeiting.

Britain's revenue losses are greater than in many EU member states due to higher duties on cigarettes, the researchers said in the British Medical Journal. The government was not immediately available for comment.

The researchers also called on the government to set clear targets for border authorities to control illegal tobacco and to support negotiations currently underway for a strong international treaty to combat smuggling.

"Britain already has one of the world's toughest tobacco control policies, but greater action on smuggling might help cut smoking further," the researchers wrote.

They said about 21 percent of all tobacco smoked in Britain is smuggled into the country to beat cigarette taxes that are some of the highest in the European Union.

Their analysis found that without smuggling, the price of legal tobacco would rise 12 percent and spur enough smokers to kick the habit to save at least 4,000 lives per year, four times as many as die from all smuggled illegal drugs put together.

"Tobacco smuggling has reduced considerably since the government announced its first strategy to tackle it in 2000, but much more needs to be done," Robert West of Cancer Research UK and University College, London and colleagues wrote. "This will require a substantial increase in resources."

The authors argued that cracking down further on tobacco smuggling would reduce cigarette use among low-income smokers who are more likely to buy smuggled tobacco and more sensitive to price increases.