Four in five tobacco purchases among young adult smokers are illegal

New research from Cancer Council NSW’s Generation Vape study has revealed the alarming extent to which illicit tobacco has become normalised among young adults, with almost 80% of recent tobacco product purchases likely to be illegal. 

The findings come as policymakers face growing pressure from the tobacco industry to weaken evidence-based tobacco control measures, including tobacco tax settings, which have been proven to discourage smoking uptake while promoting and sustaining quit attempts. 

The report of young Australians aged 18–24 who smoke shows they are purchasing illicit tobacco, with nearly 80% of recent cigarette or roll-your-own purchases likely to be illicit. 

Cancer Council is warning that illicit tobacco is now widely accessible through everyday retail environments, undermining decades of progress in public health and reducing smoking in Australia. 

Anita Dessaix, Chair of Cancer Council’s Public Health Committee and Co-author on the study, says the early findings show illicit tobacco is no longer hidden, it is embedded into the retail landscape that young people interact with daily, “illicit tobacco use has become normalised among young adults who smoke in Australia. This is not a small issue happening behind the scenes, it is happening out in the open, in everyday shops.”  

Generation Vape found that tobacconists and tobacco shops were the most common source of illicit tobacco, followed by convenience stores and corner shops. Researchers found a wide range of illicit products in circulation, including cigarettes that appeared to comply with Australia’s plain packaging and graphic health warnings up to 2024, but not with current warning requirements as well as fully branded packs that do not comply with Australian regulations.  

Ms Dessaix says that very few young people reported buying illicit tobacco online, “young people aren’t buying these products from shadowy online markets, they’re buying them from physical retailers operating in plain sight.” 

Chief Investigator on the Generation Vape Study, Professor Becky Freeman, University of Sydney says, “Young people are telling us that the price, paired with ease of access to illicit cigarettes is driving their purchases. In some cases, illicit products are so inexpensive that even getting rid of the tobacco tax entirely would not be enough to “compete” with criminal gang suppliers.” 

As one 19-year-old female study participant said, “I refuse to buy legal cigarettes. I sell cigarettes at a bottle shop; the cheapest one we have is $35. I get my cigarettes for $10 a pack, so obviously I’m going to be buying the illegal ones, they’re so cheap.” 

Prof Freeman concludes that the self-interested push by the tobacco industry to lower tobacco taxes will only serve to further push down the price of illicit tobacco, increase availability of cheap tobacco everywhere, and jeopardise the positive health gains of reduced smoking rates. “Making all cigarettes cheaper, both taxed and illicit products, will in no way improve public safety or public health.” 

Cancer Council is calling for urgent action to address the supply of illicit tobacco and protect young people from nicotine addiction. 

“Decreasing the price of a product that kills 2 in 3 people is not a public health solution. Stronger enforcement is needed to shut off illicit tobacco supply,” says Ms Dessaix, “we need to reduce availability in our communities and prevent uptake. 

“Ongoing, high-impact public education campaigns are essential to ensure young people understand the harms of smoking and vaping and don’t take it up in the first place.” She concludes.  

With young adulthood a critical period for establishing long-term nicotine dependence, experts warn that widespread access to cheap illicit tobacco risks driving a new generation of smoking-related harm. 

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