A new report is stating that eliminating illegal tobacco smuggling in the United Kingdom would save 4,000 lives per year.

From the Telegraph:

Cancer Research UK says that the trade in smuggled cigarettes and tobacco kills four times as many people as all illicit drugs combined.

Official figures suggest that 22 per cent of all tobacco smoked in Britain is smuggled into this country, where it is then sold more cheaply than the legal alternative.

If the trade could be halted the resultant increase in the price of cigarettes would convince up to 5 per cent of smokers to give up, according to the research published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

This would potentially save 4,000 lives a year from smoking-related illnesses.