AUSTRALIA'S tobacco tax hike had a dramatic and immediate impact on the nation's smokers, with almost 300,000 stubbing out for good.
Polling since the move, in late April, to increase tobacco taxes by 25 per cent shows a significant jump in the number of smokers attempting to quit and how many of them were successful.
The research also confirms the cost of cigarettes as a powerful lever for improving public health, with only 16 per cent of smokers stating they would "continue to smoke at any price".
"the new tariff drew strong reactions and much debate from smokers, anti-smoking groups and smoking cessation experts from across Australia when it took effect at midnight on April 29 this year," said smoking cessation expert Associate Professor John Litt from Flinders University.
"From this research it appears this move was the right one when it comes to trying to reduce smoking levels."
Two polls were conducted by Galaxy Research - one involving a thousand smokers and non-smokers plus and another targeting 1200 occasional to regular smokers.
Extrapolating these results across the country, the polling showed there were more than 3.1 million smokers before the tax increase.
In the two months following the price hike, 1.2 million smokers (38 per cent of all smokers) made a quit attempt.just short of 300,000 of these (nine per cent of all smokers) rated their quit attempt as a success.
Quit attempts were significantly up from the 29 per cent of smokers who tried to do so in the three months before the tax hike.
The rising cost of cigarettes was nominated as the number one reason for giving up by 21 per cent of those who successfully quit, while 45 per cent nominated health concerns.
And of the majority who continued to smoke, 29 per cent said they were smoking fewer cigarettes, 47 per cent considered quitting and 40 per cent said they intended to quit in the future.
Dr Litt said it was not a negative that so many smokers thought about quitting but had not yet done so.
"I would argue that a quit attempt is a good start as we know it can take many quit attempt before a smoker is successful in giving up for good," he said.
"... People should visit their doctor for advice on what treatment options are available to help break the addiction."
The polling also found the average smoker was now spending $57 a week on cigarettes, up from $51 before the price increase.
More than half (52 per cent) of smokers said they would try to quit of the price of 20 cigarettes reached $20. At $25, 68 per cent would try to quit while only 16 per cent would "continue to smoke at any price".
The tax hike, which was brought forward a day after news of it sparked a rush on tobacconists, increased the price of a pack of 30 cigarettes by $2.16 to about $15.
In a further initiative, the federal government will enforce new regulations banning the use of colour and attractive text on cigarette packets from July 2012.
The polling was commissioned by Pfizer Australia, which makes smoking cessation treatments.
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