[Nicotine dependence among Norwegian smokers and possible consequences for preventive actions]

This article presents data on nicotine dependence among daily smokers in Norway in terms of Fagerströms Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). Nicotine dependence was higher among those smoking hand-rolled cigarettes than among those smoking manufactured cigarettes, in spite of the fact that the average number of cigarettes smoked per day was the same for both groups. The dependence also increased the lower the age of starting to smoke daily. Nicotine dependence was higher among daily smokers with a low level of education than among smokers with a higher level of education. This difference was explained by a difference in the proportion of respondents who smoked hand-rolled cigarettes in the two groups. The data are discussed in light of Norwegian research showing that hand-rolled cigarettes can contain two to three times as much nicotine and tar as manufactured cigarettes. When smokers of hand-rolled cigarettes are less motivated to quit they are exposed to greater health injury than smokers of manufactured cigarettes. The price of (and tax on) a hand-rolled cigarette is about half the price of a manufactured cigarette. Raising the tax on rolling tobacco would be very effective in promoting health and would have the particularly precise effect of reducing the differences in occurrence of disease and premature death among different social groups.