GILES Rocca of the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association (Letters, March 24) claims that high tobacco taxes are driving smokers to the black market. It's sheer nonsense, at odds with the reality that while tobacco prices and regulation have steadily increased, the use of illicit tobacco has steadily gone down. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) reports that since 2000 there has been a 76 per cent drop in illicit cigarette sticks and a 33 per cent drop in the volume of illicit hand-rolling tobacco.

Illicit tobacco is of course a problem, but selling cigarettes cheaply is not the answer any community needs. Throughout Europe, the countries with the least stringent controls have the highest levels of smuggled tobacco. Tackling illicit tobacco is about enforcing the law.

Sheila Duffy,

Chief executive, ASH Scotland.

8 Frederick Street, Edinburgh.