Opinion on tobacco tax increase: factors associated with individuals' support in Germany.

Objectives: To assess the opinion on tobacco tax increases in Germany.

Design: Ten wave cross-sectional study with assessments before and after the tax increases.

Setting: General population of Germany.

Participants: Ten representative samples from general population with a total number of 27,608 persons aged 14 and above were interviewed.

Main Outcome Measures: Opinion ("support", "disapprove", and "undetermined") before and after tobacco tax increases.

Results: Thirty-nine percent of the sample supported the tobacco tax increases. Support was higher among non-smokers and subjects with higher levels of education. Data indicated an increase of support over time from 35% in 2002 to 42% in 2005 which was not affected by the amount of price increase.

Conclusions: The preliminary findings, that the amount of price increase did not affect the support of the general population in a negative way, and that support grew during a succession of tax increases, might be useful for legislators.