1.11 Prevalence of use of different types of tobacco product
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1.11.1 Manufactured cigarettes, roll-your-own cigarettes, pipes and cigars
Most tobacco consumed in Australia is in the form of factory-made cigarettes. Data on prevalence of use of different types of tobacco products were collected by Cancer Council Victoria (formerly the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria) in regular surveys undertaken between 1974 and 1998, and were reported in the most recent National Drug Strategy Household Surveys. Between 1974 and 1998 male smokers were more likely than female smokers to use pipes or cigars exclusively (Table 1.11.1).
Table 1.11.1
Prevalence of smoking by type of tobacco used, Australian smokers by sex aged 18+, 1974–1998 (data not weighted)
|
Year |
Sex |
Cigarettes |
Pipes and/or |
|
1974 |
Male |
91 |
9 |
|
Female |
100 |
0 |
|
|
1976 |
Male |
94 |
6 |
|
Female |
99 |
1 |
|
|
1980 |
Male |
99 |
1 |
|
Female |
100 |
0 |
|
|
1983 |
Male |
94 |
6 |
|
Female |
100 |
0 |
|
|
1986 |
Male |
95 |
5 |
|
Female |
100 |
0 |
|
|
1989 |
Male |
94 |
6 |
|
Female |
100 |
0 |
|
|
1992 |
Male |
97 |
3 |
|
Female |
100 |
0 |
|
|
1995 |
Male |
96 |
4 |
|
Female |
100 |
0 |
|
|
1998 |
Male |
97 |
3 |
|
Female |
100 |
0 |
* Pipe/cigar smokers are only those that smoke tobacco in these forms exclusively. Smokers who use a mix of cigarettes and pipes/cigars are included with cigarette smokers.
Source: Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, unpublished data.
Table 1.11.2
Type of tobacco smoked*, smokers aged 18 years and over, Australia, 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2010
|
Year |
Sex |
Manufactured |
Cigars or pipes |
RYO |
|
% |
||||
|
2001 |
Males |
88 |
21 |
31 |
|
Females |
94 |
6 |
20 |
|
|
Persons |
90 |
14 |
26 |
|
|
2004 |
Males |
89 |
12 |
32 |
|
Females |
96 |
2 |
20 |
|
|
Persons |
92 |
8 |
26 |
|
|
2007 |
Males |
88 |
12 |
31 |
|
Females |
95 |
2 |
22 |
|
|
Persons |
91 |
8 |
27 |
|
|
2010 |
Males |
88 |
13 |
39 |
|
Females |
94 |
3 |
27 |
|
|
Persons |
91 |
8 |
33 |
|
* Respondents could select more than one response. Respondents were classified as using the different tobacco product if they indicated at least some use of the product, irrespective of recency of use.
Sources: National Drug Strategy Household Surveys 2001,1 2004,2 2007,3,4 and 20105
The National Drug Strategy Household Surveys have also collected data on the type of tobacco smoked (Table 1.11.2). These findings show that manufactured cigarettes remain by far the most popular choice among smokers, especially among women.
The National Drug Strategy Household Surveys for 2010 found substantial overlap in the choice of smoking products among adult smokers (Figure 1. 11.1). Although in 2010, 8% of smokers reported use of cigars and/or pipes, only 2% of smokers used these products exclusively. Roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco was used exclusively by 6% of smokers, and manufactured cigarettes exclusively by 63% of smokers. There is some evidence that cigar usage in Australia has increased since the 1990s,6 probably due to the greater profile which these products have received over the past decade both here and internationally, but currently this cannot be discerned from national prevalence data.
A large international study on the prevalence and user characteristics of RYO tobacco in Australia and other countries has shown that exclusive RYO smokers are more likely to be male, older, to have a lower level of income, and to have less education.7 This study found that around one-quarter of Australian smokers used RYO products: 15% combined use of manufactured cigarettes and RYO tobacco, and 9% reported exclusive use of RYO.7
Figure 1.11.1
Type of tobacco smoked, proportion of smokers aged 18 years or older, 2010
Note: Excludes missing responses.
1.11.2 Unbranded loose tobacco ('chop-chop')
Chop-chop is finely cut, unbranded 'black market' tobacco which has been grown, distributed and sold without government intervention or taxation.8 Due to its comparative cheapness, some smokers have adopted it as an alternative to, or in addition to, smoking manufactured tobacco.9,10
Questions about the prevalence of usage of chop-chop have been asked in the most recent National Drug Strategy Household Surveys. Two small surveys undertaken in New South Wales showed varying degrees of penetration of chop-chop in the community.9, 11
Chop-chop is discussed further in Chapter 3, Section 3.27.2, Chapter 10, Section 10.9.1 and in greatest detail in Chapter 13, Section 13.7.2.
1.11.3 Smokeless tobacco products
Although widely used overseas,12 smokeless tobacco products (those intended for sucking or chewing) are little used in Australia and data concerning the prevalence of their use are sparse. The 2004 National Drug Strategy Household Survey suggested that approximately half of one per cent (0.57%) of the Australian population aged 12 or over had used smokeless tobacco in the 12 months prior to the survey.13
Leaves from naturally occurring nicotine-containing plants were chewed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples prior to the introduction of conventional tobacco products in the eighteenth century, first by Indonesian fishermen, and later by European settlers. In some Indigenous communities 'bush' tobaccos and manufactured loose or plug tobaccos are still chewed, either alone or in combination, but overall prevalence of use of these substances is extremely low.10,14–17 Tobacco chewing among the Australian Indigenous population is discussed further in Chapter 8, Section 8.5.
The import, sales and marketing of smokeless tobacco products in Australia is controlled by national legislation.18 However a recent survey showing that smokeless tobacco products are readily available from some South Asian shops in Sydney suggests that there is sufficient local demand for these products for importers and shopkeepers to risk breaking the law.19 See Chapter 3, Section 3.33 for further discussion.
References
1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2001 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: detailed findings. Drug statistics series no. 11, AIHW cat. no. PHE 41. Canberra: AIHW, 2002. Available from: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/8227
2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2004 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: detailed findings. Drug strategy series no.16, AIHW cat. no. PHE 66. Canberra: AIHW, 2005. Available from: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/phe/ndshsdf04/ndshsdf04.pdf
3. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2007 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: detailed findings. Drug statistics series no. 22, AIHW cat. no. PHE 107. Canberra: AIHW, 2008. Available from: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10674
4. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. National Drug Strategy Household Survey, 2007. Canberra: Australian Social Science Data Archive, The Australian National University, 2008. [viewed July 2008]
5. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: survey report. Drug statistics series no. 25, AIHW cat. no. PHE 145. Canberra: AIHW, 2011. Available from: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=32212254712&libID=32212254712&tab=2
6. Euromonitor International. Tobacco in Australia, Global Market Information Database. London: Euromonitor International, 2006. [viewed 14 December 2006] ; Available from: http://www.euromonitor.com
7. Young D, Borland R, Hammond D, Cummings KM, Devlin E, Yong HH, et al. Prevalence and attributes of roll-your-own smokers in the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Survey. Tobacco Control 2006;15(suppl. 3):iii76–iii82. Available from: http://tc.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/15/suppl_3/iii76
8. Auditor-General. Administration of tobacco excise. Audit report No. 55, 2001–02 Performance Audit. Canberra: Australian National Audit Office, Commonwealth of Australia, 2002. Available from: http://www.anao.gov.au/uploads/documents/2001-02_Audit_Report_55.pdf
9. Bittoun R. 'Chop chop' tobacco smoking [Letter] . Medical Journal of Australia 2002;77:686–7. Available from: http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/177_11_021202/bittoun_021202.pdf
10. Lindorff KJ. Tobacco time for action: National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Tobacco Control Project final report. Canberra: National Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, 2002. Available from: http://www.naccho.org.au/Files/Documents/NACCHO_Tobacco_report.pdf
11. Walsh R, Paul C and Stojanovski E. Illegal tobacco use in Australia: how big is the problem of chop-chop? Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 2006;30(5):484–5. Available from: http://www.phaa.net.au/anzjph/anzjph.htm
12. World Health Organization and International Agency for Research on Cancer. IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. Volume 85: Betel-quid and areca-nut chewing and some areca-nut-derived nitrosamines. Summary of data reported and evaluation. Lyon: IARC, 2004. Available from: http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol85/volume85.pdf
13. Gartner CE and Hall WD. Smokeless tobacco use in Australia. Drug and Alcohol Review 2009;28:284–91.
14. Watson C, Fleming J and Alexander K. A survey of drug use patterns in Northern Territory Aboriginal communities:1986–1987. Darwin: Northern Territory Department of Health and Community Services, 1988.
15. Gilchrist D. Smoking prevalence among Aboriginal women. Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal 1998;22:4–6.
16. Briggs VL, Lindorff KJ and Ivers RG. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and tobacco. Tobacco Control 2003;12(suppl. 2):ii5–ii8. Available from: http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/12/suppl_2/ii5
17. Brady M. Historical and cultural roots of tobacco use among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 2002;26:116–20.
18. Attorney-General's Department and Commonwealth of Australia. Trade Practices Act 1974 (and Amendments). ComLaw Commonwealth of Australia Law. Incorporating the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia 2007, [viewed 11 October 2006] . Available from: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/comlaw/management.nsf/lookupindexpagesbyid/IP200401339?OpenDocument
19. Sachdev P and Chapman S. Availability of smokeless tobacco products in South Asian grocery shops in Sydney, 2004. Medical Journal of Australia 2005;183:334. Available from: http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/183_06_190905/letters_190905_fm-1.html
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