Secular Café: UK to follow Australia in mandating plain packaging for fags

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UK to follow Australia in mandating plain packaging for fags Mar 6th 2013, 09:35 About time too. Who wants the freedom to be manipulated by the tobacco industry's seductive images? http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/20...ette-packaging Quote: Ministers are to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes along the Australian model with legislation this year, after becoming convinced that the branding is a key factor in why young people start to smoke. The legislation, to be announced in the Queen's speech in May, is also expected to ban smoking in cars carrying anyone aged under 16 years. Ministers acknowledge that the ban is likely to be difficult for the police to enforce, but they believe peer group pressure will have an impact similar to the ban on drivers using mobile phones. David Cameron referred to the possibility of introducing plain packaging last week, without putting a timetable on it. Ministers are convinced that the ban is necessary to take the next step to reduce smoking in the UK. "We are going to follow what they have done in Australia. The evidence suggests it is going to deter young smokers. There is going to be legislation," said a senior Whitehall source said... ...The study also found that non-smokers tended to find plain packaging less appealing than did smokers, and younger respondents tended to find it less appealing than did older respondents. Around two thirds of smokers say they started smoking before they were 18. Since December in Australia cigarettes must be sold in uniform drab olive-green packets with graphic health warnings. The only marker of difference between products is the brand name written on the packet in a uniform style. New Zealand has promised to follow the Australian lead. The Australian attorney-general, Mark Dreyfus, has defended the packaging saying "it is anti-cancer, not anti-trade". There has been some evidence that smokers are now trying to cover up the packaging with plasters.

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