How times have changed. Smoking used to be something all the cool kids did, with peer pressure claiming another crop of nicotine addicts behind the bike sheds every year, but increasingly it is becoming only something the rich kids are able to do. After the introduction of large EU health warnings onto cigarette packets across Europe in January this year failed to have the right effect, the French Government has decided to raise the tax …showed first 75 words of 601 total…

…showed last 75 words of 601 total…lure of the black market becomes greater as the price of legitimate cigarettes increases beyond many people's reach. It could be that price increases in the UK are just the reason that many will need to really get round to giving up the habit, but it could also mean that many more will become especially determined. Watching the French reaction to this latest development could give us a clue as to where this will go.