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Latin America Is Quitting Smoking, and Africa Is Taking It Up
- leojg 12y agoI am Uruguayan and we have 3.3 millon habitants, not 2.7 :P
- pacofvf 12y agoin Mexico ten years ago cigarettes used to cost 14 pesos, very heavy taxing puts them now at 45 pesos, 3.2 times more, its target price for the next five years is 100 pesos, or ~7 USD with current exchange rate.
- joshuapants 12y agoMy first thought was to say "Ha, that's nothing, try $15 in New York." Then I decided to look at the average salary in Mexico (~$6000). Those are some very expensive cigarettes!
- pandler 12y agoThey're even more expensive in New Zealand. Packs range from $15 to $20, or $40 for 30g of rolling tobacco. The government increases the tax on them every year.
- GolfyMcG 12y agoI'm curious why they didn't include the United States (or some other Western countries) as a reference point/baseline since FiveThirtyEight's audience, much like HackerNews, is probably mostly in Western countries...
- iamcurious 12y agoJust curious, do you consider Latin America western?
- joshuapants 12y agoWhile a broad definition of "the West" would include Latin America (not just geographically, but also due to its European colonial history), it is common to view Latin America as a separate entity from "the West."
- timepiece 12y agoSo it's an ethnocentric worldview, right?
- joshuapants 12y agoYes, the separation of west, east, and perhaps one or more additional categories is one based more on differences in cultural values and norms than purely geography.
- timepiece 12y agoI was referring more specifically to the division lines you contrived between Europe/North America on one hand and Central and South America on the other hand even both more or less share the same values and ideals. So it can't be cultural, so it could be ethnocentric and therefore was my question for you.
- joshuapants 12y agoAre you using some new/nonstandard/uncommon use of "ethnocentric" that doesn't involve culture? I'm not sure if you're trying to subtly paint me as a racist, but it seems that way. Europe, North America, and Latin America are all very different in all but a few superficial ways, but I do find that Europe and North America are more like each other than either is like Latin America.
- sdm 12y ago> I do find that Europe and North America are more like each other than either is like Latin America. "Latin America" is very big area and it overlaps with North America. In my experience the most European-like country in the Americas is by far Argentina.
- benologist 12y agoThe table actually scrolls and includes many countries, on OS X I had to click on it before it would. Australia is down -41%, although it may be an outlier because we have been a leader in making it hard to sell/market cigarettes, and they're very heavily taxed.
- konstruktor 12y ago> But the South American nation of 2.7 million is currently embroiled in a battle with Philip Morris, which claims that legislation requiring 80 percent of cigarette packs to be covered with health warnings is devaluing its “legally-protected trademark and brand.” From the Lean Startup methodology point of view, this is a big win, because Big Tobacco panicking validates Uruguay's strategy against smoking. All it takes is for more countries to follow suit.
- ngoel36 12y agoIs there evidence that this packaging works? I don't smoke, and the warnings certainly scare me, but I always find myself in a foreign duty-free shop shoving myself through throngs of people carrying a tower of Malboro boxes - lung cancer seems to be the last thing on their mind.
- hyperbovine 12y agoThere is evidence: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-19/australias-plain-packaging-laws-are-a-success-studies-show/6331736 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-19/australias-plain-packa.... Also, people who carry armloads of cigarettes out of duty free do not represent the marginal cases this law is targeting.
- leojg 12y agoUruguayan here. Personally, I think it works, most of people that I know dont smoke, and most of those who smoke are trying to quit it. BTW: We are 3.3 not 2.7 :S
- zorked 12y agoBrazil has reduced smoking by 35% since 2000 using mandatory scary pictures in the packaging, restrictions on advertisement, restrictions on public smoking and mandatory minimal prices. Whether packaging alone works, who knows. The combination of those policies is highly effective.
- elevensies 12y agoIt can devalue the brand with or without having an effect on overall consumption, it will make their boxes look more similar to cheaper brands.
- benologist 12y agoI've noticed this living in Costa Rica, I hardly ever see or walk past someone smoking anymore. When I first came here in 2006 it was everywhere including allowed in bars etc.
- madsravn 12y agoI am great fan of disallowing smoking inside public places. I can barely stand being near smoke: My throat just shuts down. So this is a great win for me :)
- wtbob 12y agoIt's remarkable to me how it's publicly acceptable to despise and loathe smokers and smoking. If you wrote 'I can barely stand being near black people,' you'd rightfully be cast out of polite society, but say, 'I think bars should be legally forced to ban smoking' and one is applauded. Part of living in a free society is learning some tolerance: tolerance for other viewpoints; for other races; for other religions; for other cuisines; for other modes of dress; and yes, for other lifestyles.
- Reebles 12y agoI do not care what people look like or even how they act, I do care about being forced to inhale disgusting and cancerous smoke in enclosed spaces because of their habit. I see no reason why we should accommodate that as a society.
- wtbob 12y ago> I do care about being forced to inhale disgusting and cancerous smoke in enclosed spaces because of their habit. You are free to vacate the space; the smoke will not give you cancer anyway and 'disgusting' is pure prejudice. > I see no reason why we should accommodate that as a society. Because in a free society we tolerate different lifestyle choices.
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- mixmastamyk 12y agoIt's nice that California (at least southern) was a pioneer in this area. Whenever I'd have to travel it was like going back in time, to the bad old days. Was pleasantly surprised to see places as far as Rio de Janeiro recently ban it as well. There's no excuse for it being legal in indoor public places, it's like having peeing/no-peeing sections in the pool. It is one reason I couldn't live in Europe despite how nice it is... I remember having dinner at a cafe in winter in Germany once. Freezing outside and four smokers, four! at the table next to us. Oh and then there was the smoking couple in the frozen section of the supermarket in Portugal... nowhere to hide. Fuck you people. I suppose I should bring tear-gas and a gas mask next time.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- matwood 12y agoI've long joked that the French will single handedly keep the tobacco industry alive.
- randyrand 12y agoSure there is. Let Bars and other semi-public spaces decide for themselves if smoking is allowed. Maybe let the customers cast votes? ....similar to how it is done to marijuana right now. Some will say "we tried this! and all the bars were smoking bars!" But they forget times have changed. I can't see a reason not to allow at least 1 smoking bar in a given city. It would be really popular among the smokers.
- dingaling 12y ago> Let Bars and other semi-public spaces decide for themselves if smoking is allowed. However that directly impacts the health of staff who work there. In the UK that was one of the key factors in banning indoors smoking.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- hkarthik 12y agoThere was a great John Oliver segment on the tobacco industry and how it's evolved to become even more profitable worldwide than it ever was in the US. Highly recommended to watch it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UsHHOCH4q8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UsHHOCH4q8
- slurry 12y agoAre Africans smoking more because they have more disposable income? If so, this may be an encouraging trend, in a way.
- soneca 12y agoHere in Brazil my personal view is that people are smoking much less, specially new generations. Ban smoking in all public indoors (clubs, restaurants, offices) or even kind-of-outdoors (no walls, but cover/roofs to protect from rain) has led me to a much healthier life. Seriously, I spent some days a few years ago on a hostel on Barcelona where I just couldn't possibly be at the common room (where they served free dinner to socialize all the guests, a great idea btw). I couldn't survive the combination of a LOT of smokers and a low ceiling. Smoking regulations - one of the very few society decisions I am very proud of in my country
- PhantomGremlin 12y agoWhat is the smoking situation on Brazilian domestic airline flights these days? Hopefully completely banned? I visited Brazil in 1987. Back in those days international flights had a smoking section (usually at the back of the plane) and a non-smoking section. So of course the domestic carriers also did the same (TransBrasil in this case). But with a slight change: left side of plane was smoking, right side of plane was non-smoking. As Dave Barry would say: "I am not making this up!".
- soneca 12y agoLol long time ago. Since I can remember (I'm 35) smoking is banned from planes and airports.
- randyrand 12y agoHow popular is the opinion that people over the age of majority should make their own health decisions?