The President of the German National Chamber of Physicians, Klaus Reinhardt, welcomed the debate on raising the tobacco tax. He told the “Rheinische Post” (Saturday edition) that an increase is “right and necessary from a health‑policy perspective”.
Reinhardt stressed that smoking remains “one of the greatest avoidable health hazards”. International experience and public‑health data demonstrate that higher prices effectively cut tobacco use – especially among young people. Such a tax raises the barrier to entry for youth and encourages quitting, serving a clear preventive function.
He explained that levying taxes on harmful consumables has a double effect: they generate financial space for health care and prevention while simultaneously contributing measurably to consumption reduction.
Earlier, the federal drug commissioner Hendrik Streeck (CDU) and other politicians from the black‑red coalition had also called for a higher tobacco tax.
