Background:
There has been no study so far on the effects of cigarette price increases and other tobacco control policies on smoking behaviour among young people in Poland.

Objective:
To study the determinants of cigarette smoking initiation among young people in Poland.

Methods:
The study uses survival analysis techniques and data from the group of youth smoking surveys (the group includes: the 2003, 2009, and 2016 Global Youth Tobacco Surveys (GYTS) and the 2019 PolNicoYouth survey; students aged 11-18). Split-population duration models are employed.

Results:
There was a correlation between cigarette prices and the hazard of smoking initiation in all models (hazard ratio from 0.86 to 0.91). Lower hazards of smoking initiation were also associated with a comprehensive advertising ban (hazard ratio from 0.69 to 0.70) and with the introduction of pictorial warnings (hazard ratio from 0.65 to 0.68). The effects of smoke-free laws were non-significant.

Conclusions:
The study concludes that increased cigarette prices higher excise taxes, could decrease cigarette smoking initiation among polish adolescents. Minimizing promotional elements from cigarette packs and making the health warning more visible through packaging laws could further accelerate the decrease in smoking initiation.