Physicians should, therefore, be aware that public policy regarding smoking can be an effective instrument of public health and they have a responsibility to participate effectively in public debate, both as individuals and as members of medical organizations. Increases in the price of tobacco products have been demonstrated to reduce tobacco consumption among existing smokers and decrease the proportion of young people who begin to smoke. Taxation designed to decrease consumption should be strongly supported. Usually this will involve using the tax system to ensure that tobacco prices are both high and steadily rising at a rate faster than inflation of prices and earnings. Studies suggest that price rises of a given percentage above inflation result in falls in consumption of about half that percentage.
Most governments use the funds raised by tobacco excise taxes for general revenue.
Governments should not fund routine services at the expense of public health. Alternative uses for such funds could include specific tobacco prevention and education programs, including mass media campaigns, smoking cessation efforts among the poor and helping tobacco farmers convert to other crops. Such fiscal policies raise a number of important questions. A high price policy has also been criticized as an unfair penalty upon the poor. It is the physician's role to recognize and proselytize any perceived penalty in terms of health risks associated with cigarette smoking.