Could slashing the excise end the tobacco wars?

Has the steady increase of the tobacco excise done the opposite of what was intended? Smokers are now buying cheaper black-market cigarettes, criminal gangs are fighting for control over the trade and revenue from the government's excise - designed to deter consumers - is now collapsing. Rohan Pike is a former AFP and ABF Officer, and creator of the Tobacco Strike Team. He told David Speers cutting the tobacco excise would stamp out the illegal trade. 0:40 Introduction 2:08 Welcome Rohan Pike 2:15 What happened in Canada? 6:47 "Only thing that allowed them to fight on an even keel was that cut in excise." 12:24 Would more checks at the ports help? 16:00 What should the tobacco excise be? 18:00 What about the health risk in this debate? 22:45 National enforcement 25:00 Goodbye Subscribe: https://ab.co/3yqPOZ5 Welcome to ABC News In-depth, where you'll find our long-form journalism and other videos to help you understand what's going on in the world around you. Watch more ABC News content ad-free on ABC iview: https://ab.co/2OB7Mk1 For more from ABC News, click here: https://ab.co/2kxYCZY Get breaking news and livestreams from our ABC News channel:    / newsonabc   Like ABC News on Facebook:   / abcnews.au   Follow ABC News on Instagram:   / abcnews_au   Follow ABC News on Twitter:   / abcnews   Note: In most cases, our captions are auto-generated. #ABCNewsIndepth #ABCNewsAustralia