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For over 100 years taxation has been a common method of revenue collection in New Zealand and the major policy instrument for reducing tobacco use since the comprehensive tobacco control programme began in 19851. Tobacco tax rates have been raised once or twice a year since that time2. A comparison of cigarette prices in relation to income in the year 2000 showed that in New Zealand cigarettes were more costly than in 22 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, except for the United Kingdom3. During the 1986– 1992 recession, the Government increased the tobacco tax to raise revenue.

Can nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes (NECs) help to reducing smoking prevalence for Maori and Pacific Island persons in New Zealand? We compared simulated demand for tobacco cigarettes, reactions to first-time use of NECs, and the impact of NEC availability on tobacco demand for New Zealand European and Maori/Pacific Island smokers. New Zealand smokers (N=357; 30.1% Maori/Pacific ethnicity and 69.9% NZ European/ Other) completed questionnaires and of these 210 consented to attend a session in which they sampled an NEC and completed simulated demand tasks. Maori/Pacific smokers were significantly more price sensitive than NZ European/Other smokers. NECs were partially substitutable for tobacco cigarettes for both New Zealand European and Maori/Pacific smokers, but were rated as more satisfying by Maori/Pacific smokers. Tobacco excise tax increases may be beneficial for discouraging smoking, particularly for Maori/ Pacific male smokers, and the availability of NECs at a lower price than tobacco cigarettes may enhance the effects of price increases. NECs may be an attractive vehicle for nicotine replacement therapy and may reduce ethnic disparities in smoking prevalence in New Zealand. Keywords: simulated demand, electronic cigarettes, subjective effects, nicotine replacement therapy, ethnicity, Maori, Smoking is a major contributor to health inequalities between ethnic groups in New Zealand with consistently poor outcomes for Maori and Pacific Island people (Blakely, Ajwani, Robson, Tobias, & Bonne, [...]

Although smokers have higher rates of delay discounting, the extent to which this depends on smoking habit and nicotine use is unclear. Because personality factors are correlated with both delay discounting and smoking, we assessed the extent to which the effect size for smoking and delay discounting was attenuated by using the primary dimensions of personality in Eysenck's system--extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism--as covariates. Smokers (/; = 367) and non-smokers (n = 421) completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQ-R) and the Monetary Choice Questionnaire (MCQ) to measure delay discounting. Smokers had higher rates of delay discounting (d = .315). Although extra version and psychoticism scores were higher for smokers than non-smokers, and were positively correlated with delay discounting, the effect size for smokers decreased only marginally when personality variables were used as covariates (d = .295). A stepwise regression analysis identified 7 EPQ-R items that best predicted delay discounting (R = .281); controlling for a subscale based on these items only reduced the effect size to d = .252, and among the smokers, nicotine dependence remained a significant predictor of delay discounting. Overall results indicate that smokers' elevated delay discounting is independent of primary personality dimensions, and although correlational, are most consistent with the view that smoking habit and Keywords Smoking ? Nicotine dependence * Delay discounting * Eysenck's personality theory * Extraversion * Neuroticism * Psychoticism, Smoking is a risk factor for six of the eight leading causes of death (World Health Organization, 2008) and is responsible for over 6 million deaths annually worldwide (Department of [...]