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New from 麻豆直播 has revealed increasing cigarette prices over the past several years have seen more older Australians turn to cannabis use as an alternative.

Researchers from Curtin鈥檚 School of Accounting, Economics and Finance investigated the buying habits of nearly 100,000 Australians from 2001 to 2019 by analysing data from the Australian National Drug Strategy Household Survey.

The team found when cigarette prices increased cannabis use decreased in Australians under 40 years of age, with no change for people aged between 40 and 50.

However, it also showed cannabis use increased among people aged over 50 when cigarette prices rose.

Study author John Curtin Distinguished said the results were surprising because cannabis and tobacco are generally consumed as a bundle.

鈥淚n economic terms, if they’re consumed together and it becomes more expensive to buy tobacco, you’d expect cannabis consumption to also fall,鈥� Professor Harris said.

鈥淏ut what we鈥檝e found is the relationships between the drugs, and the way people use them, potentially changes with the age of a consumer: cannabis can change from a complement of tobacco, to a replacement.鈥�

As part of the study, researchers ran a simulation of what would happen if tobacco prices rose by 10 per cent through higher taxes or other means.

They found 68,000 people aged over 50 would start using cannabis in response, whether increasing existing cannabis use or opting to try cannabis for the first time as a tobacco substitute.

Co-study author said applying consumer behaviour research could help create effective health promotion strategies.

鈥淚n economics, we have this idea that people behave rationally, that we act according to price,鈥� Dr Singh said.

鈥淏ut different segments of the population will respond differently to price increases, that鈥檚 why we use the term 鈥榣ife cycle approach鈥� when looking at consumption.

鈥淪o on average, increasing tobacco prices makes cannabis use go down 鈥� but the opposite is true for this particular age group.鈥�

Dr Singh said the findings could help shape future health policies and messaging.

鈥淭his shows applying blanket policies for everybody may not be the best way to improve outcomes across all demographics,鈥� Dr Singh said.

The study was conducted in collaboration with RMIT University鈥檚 Dr Preety Srivastava.

鈥�Cannabis and tobacco: substitutes and 肠辞尘辫濒别尘别苍迟蝉鈥� was published in the .