Roll-your-own tobacco gets popular after price hike

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By Rachel Lee

Use of hand-rolled tobacco appears to be on the rise, as smokers look for cheaper options following a price hike on cigarettes that took effect on Jan. 1.

The government raised cigarette prices from an average of 2,500 won per pack to 4,500 won starting this month in an attempt to curb the country’s high smoking rate.

Roll-your-own cigarettes, also called “rollies” and “roll-ups,” refer to cigarettes made from loose tobacco and rolling paper. The tobacco is sold in pouches that also include rolling papers or cigarette tubes.

The products are favored by young people and low-income groups because they are cheaper than factory-made cigarettes, which are sometimes referred to as “straights.”

“I like (rolling cigarettes) because it’s cheaper, and also young people who smoke roll-ups kind of see themselves as a different kind of smoker,” Kim Dong-hwan, a 27-year-old office worker, told The Korea Times.

Rolling tobacco has become increasingly popular in Europe. In the United Kingdom, for example, use of such products among smokers over 16 increased from two percent to 23 percent among women; and from 18 percent to 39 percent among men between 1990 and 2010, according to The Guardian.