Degree of Government Influence on Tobacco Sales Research (Essay Sample)

Degree of Government Influence on Tobacco Sales
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Degree of Government Influence on Tobacco Sales
According to Eriksen, Mackay, & Ross (2013), in the United States, approximately half a million people die of cancer caused by smoking. As discussed by Thomson et al. (2010) the government uses various strategies to curb the prevalence of smoking incidences. However, the majority of these interventions reduces the volume of tobacco sales. In this paper, the degree of government influence on tobacco sales is discussed.
Various factors influence the extent to which the government enforces regulations on tobacco sales. Most states consider the revenue generated from cigarette sales before setting policies to steward the tobacco business (Chaloupka, Yurekli & Fong, 2012). Capitalist countries are more lenient in implementing laws designed to hamper sales of tobacco since such regulations substantially reduce the demand for cigarettes and thus tax generated from tobacco industries (Thomson et al., 2010). Thus, in such nations, the influence of the government on tobacco sales is minimal.
Most governments continuously adjust the cost of cigarettes as an intervention of curbing smoking. Eriksen, Mackay & Ross (2013) give a scenario of Nigeria where the cost of cigarettes in 2015 was increased by 20-percent in an aim of discouraging individuals from smoking. Some governments also adjust the price of cigarettes to match the marginal demand and also compensate for reduced sales attributed to antismoking laws (Gilmore, Branston, & Sweanor, 2010). Governments which use price strategy to regulate smoking significantly affects tobacco sales by reducing the demand for cigarettes.
The economy of the country and the strategy adopted to regulate smoking determines the extent to which the government influences the sales of tobacco. Additionally, the regulations instituted to battle tobacco use also determines the sales obtained from the cigarette industry.
References
Eriksen, M., Mackay, J., & Ross, H. (2013). The tobacco atlas (No. Ed. 4). New York: American Cancer Society.
Chaloupka, F. J., Yurekli, A., & ...