In Reply The goal of for-profit corporations, such as British American Tobacco (BAT), is undeniably to maximize profits. A novel finding from our study¹ is that BAT’s large and sustained price increases suggest that it aimed to maximize short-run profits even if they came at the expense of fewer new young users becoming addicted. Many governments, but surely not all, increased tobacco taxes with the primary goal of increasing tax revenues, with the secondary goal to improve population health. What stands out, and contradicts Braillon’s thesis, is that Chile did not increase tobacco taxes while BAT increased prices and reaped profits. Instead, Chile strengthened existing tobacco control policies such as advertising and smoking restrictions. It banned all tobacco advertising with the exception of point of sale and banned smoking in enclosed workplaces and public spaces. There is strong evidence that such policies can reduce tobacco use,² and in turn, actually decrease tax revenue.

作为回应英美烟草 (BAT) 等营利性公司的目标无疑是实现利润最大化。我们研究的一个新发现¹是 BAT 的大幅且持续的价格上涨表明它旨在最大化短期利润，即使它们的代价是减少新的年轻用户上瘾。许多政府（但肯定不是全部）增加烟草税的主要目标是增加税收，次要目标是改善人口健康。与 Braillon 的论点相矛盾的突出之处在于，智利没有提高烟草税，而 BAT 提高了价格并获得了利润。相反，智利加强了现有的烟草控制政策，例如广告和吸烟限制。它禁止除销售点外的所有烟草广告，并禁止在封闭的工作场所和公共场所吸烟。有强有力的证据表明此类政策可以减少烟草使用，²反过来，实际上减少了税收。