Australia’s plain cigarette packets succeed in making smoking less appealing

The first comprehensive study of Australia’s use of plain
packets for cigarettes found they prompted increasing
numbers of smokers to quit and made the habit less
appealing to younger people.

The research was conducted in Australia, which was the
first nation to introduce plain packaging in December 2012.
Australia’s packets carry no logos and are plain aside from
large macabre health warnings. Britain is introducing
similar packets from next year.
Research by the Cancer Council, published in the medical
journal Tobacco Control, found the number of smokers who
tried to quit over the course of a month went from 20 per
cent before the packets were introduced to 27 per cent.
Smokers were also found to be more likely to hide their
packs and stub out cigarettes prematurely as a result of the
gruesome health warnings emblazoned across the cartons.
The findings were based on surveys of more than 5,000
smokers.
The research also disputed claims by smoking firms that the
removal of branding would lead to an increase in the sales
of illegal cigarettes.
There was also found to be no surge in online sales or
purchases from overseas.
Separate surveys of 6,000 school students aged 12 to 17
were conducted before and after the introduction of the
packaging. Those interviewed after the packets were
brought in had more negative attitudes towards smoking.
“These papers provide the first comprehensive set of results
of real world plain packaging and they are pointing very
strongly to success in achieving the legislation’s aims,”
Professor Melanie Wakefield, from the Cancer Council, told
The Adelaide Advertiser.
“These results should give confidence to countries
considering plain packaging that plain packs not only
reduce appeal of tobacco products and increase the
effectiveness of health warnings but also diminish the
tobacco industry’s ability to use packs to mislead

consumers about the harms of smoking.”

Posted by Donatus Joshua at 14:34