The government adopted a draft law increasing excise duty on tobacco products. Not only cigarettes and cigars will be more expensive, but also liquids for electronic cigarettes. The excise tax is to be increased three times in the coming years, with the first increase scheduled for March next year. The problem of smoking addiction in Poland is still serious. Young people and even children also use tobacco products.
According to the World Health Organization, smoking is “one of the greatest threats to public health in history.” – The harmful effects of tobacco have been known since the 1980s. I think this is enough time for us all to know how harmful it is – points out Dr. Marcin Bednarek from the Wielkopolska Center of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery.
Theoretically, there is no need to be reminded of the harmful effects of smoking and even smokers themselves are aware of it, yet on average every third Pole uses some type of tobacco product. – Last week I saw a patient who started smoking at the age of five because his older brothers encouraged him to smoke cigarettes. Being still a relatively young person, he is a respiratory invalid who requires the support of an oxygen concentrator – says Tomasz Karauda, a doctor at the Pulmonary Diseases Department of the University Clinical Hospital in Łódź.
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Teenagers also admit to smoking regularly. Experts estimate that more than half have tried it at least once. There are also children who smoked. – The youngest smoker I met, it's hard to say it's a heavy tuxedo, but a smoker in primary school, even in the 1st or 2nd grade – says prof. Ewa Czrnobilska from the Department of Toxicology and Environmental Diseases of the Jagiellonian University Medical College. – The youngest e-cigarette smoker I met was six years old – adds Tomasz Karauda.
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Excise tax increase
On Tuesday, the government adopted a draft law significantly increasing excise tax on various types of smoking products. Cigarettes, cigars, heated tobacco products and e-cigarette liquid will be more expensive, but they are not a better alternative.
– The nicotine they contain is equally addictive. We don't have tar-like substances, but we do have solvents that are used to dissolve these oils, for example fragrance oils. This also causes damage to the respiratory tract. More and more cases of pneumonia are being reported – points out Dr. Marcin Bednarek.
The new, higher excise tax is to apply from March 1 next year. The rate for liquids for electronic cigarettes will increase the most, by 75 percent, and for so-called innovative products, i.e. heated tobacco products, by 50 percent. In turn, the excise tax on smoking tobacco will be 38 percent higher, and on traditional cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos – by 25 percent.
Excise tax increase from March 1, 2025gov.pl/premier
Alarming WHO data
In practice, the idea is that the price of tobacco products simply discourages smoking. Higher prices would be a barrier, especially for younger people. – We must do everything to make these harmful addictions to the health of young people as inaccessible as possible – emphasizes the Minister of National Education, Barbara Nowacka.
Two further excise tax increases – by several to even 50 percent, depending on the product – are planned in 2026 and 2027. Overall, liquid for electronic cigarettes, popular especially among younger smokers, will increase in price the most.
– The problem here is that this habit of reaching for stimulants containing nicotine begins very innocently. Manufacturers tempt us in various ways with something that does not seem to be harmful, which is not a cigarette, notes Krzysztof Paszyk, Minister of Development and Technology.
Data from the World Health Organization clearly show that smoking kills over eight million people every year. Of these, over a million are passive smokers. – This side stream of tobacco smoke contains up to 20 times more nicotine than that inhaled by a smoker – notes Prof. Ewa Czrnobilska.
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