When the Australian Bureau of Statistics released data on tobacco consumption earlier this year, it made headlines.It found that 80 per cent of the nicotine consumed in Australia came from illicit sources.It's a big number and highlights a deep problem for public health authorities and law enforcement alike.Let's take a look at how we got there.First, let's track the amount of legal tobacco consumed.This chart using ABS figures shows the amount of nicotine consumed from legitimate cigarettes and tobacco, going back to 2016.You can see the amounts don't really change much for the first few years, hovering around 4,500kg of nicotine per quarter.This is despite yearly tax hikes, which would eventually make Australian cigarettes the most expensive in the world.Then, halfway through 2019, the amount of legal tobacco starts to shift downwards.… the tax hikes continue …… and the shift becomes a tumble.Until we reach the latest numbers — about a third of where we were a decade ago.A triumph for anti-tobacco campaigners and a big win for public health, right? Big tobacco on the run.But this is not the whole chart It's really cheap to manufacture cigarettes," Professor Freeman says."So all we would be doing [in cutting the tax] is trying to 'compete' with criminal gangs."The Australian Medical Association also says reducing tobacco excise would increase prevalence and "undo decades of effective public health strategy".Last year, Australian Border Force seized more than 2.66 billion illegal cigarettes, up from 480 million in 2016.The products mostly come in two forms