World / New Zealand Coming to New Zealand: $100 Packs of Cigarettes? Officials think higher prices will cut down on smoking By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff Posted Apr 23, 2012 8:53 AM CDT Updated Apr 28, 2012 7:12 AM CDT Copied This file photo made Oct. 21, 2009, shows Camel cigarettes, a Reynolds American brand, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) While the US has been trying to disgust smokers into giving up tobacco, New Zealand has been considering a more direct idea: raising the price of cigarettes to $100 a pack. The Ministry of Health wants a smoke-free NZ by 2025, and the $100 price tag—which would be implemented by 2020—is one of the ideas being discussed … although officials admit it is "probably unrealistic." The plan seen as the most likely would make a pack of cigarettes a still-sizable $60 by 2025, Sky News reports. But, 3 News adds, Prime Minister John Key is concerned that higher prices may simply encourage a black market. (More New Zealand stories.) Report an error