Following the Chantler review which concluded standardised packaging need not increase the illicit trade in tobacco, rejecting claims from the tobacco industry, standardised or “plain” packaging of cigarettes and other tobacco products should be introduced across the UK in 2015.
Of course any steps taken to prevent smoking being appealing is a welcomed moved, particularly if you are a parent with young children.
Evidence shows the current attractive and varied packaging attracts young people towards smoking. But the question has to be asked is this change, based on one introduced in Australia in December 2012, going to make a real difference?
The first question which has to be faced is what makes a young person light up a cigarette for the first time?
Pier pressure has to be right up there. As is the case, a teenager is susceptible to those around him or her and largely wants to be seen as fitting in. When their friends try something new they don’t want to be the one left out. This has proven to be a recipe for many long term smokers.
A second likely scenario is parents smoking. Although this could lead a child either way – when seeing the effects becoming weary of the bad habit – it has drifted more children of smokers becoming smokers themselves. Partly because a teenager is not likely to look at long term implications and because access to a cigarette is easy, albeit without the parents knowledge.
The “plain” packet is not the first measure to make smoking less attractive.
Images of what smoking can do has taken up a significant part of the packet
for quite
sometime. A ban of smoking in public spaces was introduced in 2007. Recent legislation has meant display units need to be closed from public view in supermarkets and is to be introduced to smaller shops soon.
The ban on smoking in public spaces has had an impact on secondary smoke according to a government report. But according to anti smoking charity Ash there hasn’t been a drop in smokers since 2007. According to their statistics there were 10 million smokers in the UK in 2007 and there are still 10 million smokers in the UK today. They also state two thirds of smokers start before the age of 18, the legal age of smoking.
In 2011 it was estimated that more than 200,000 children aged 11- 15 began smoking.
Another increase over the years has seen more women smokers to the point of almost levelling the number of men. In Britain 22 per cent of adult men and 19 per cent of adult women are smokers according to Ash.
Another is the price of a packet of cigarettes, being heavily taxed to make it less appealing. But this in turn has faced a smokers black market likely to be worth millions.
Despite banning publicity of smoking, and introducing more anti-smoking campaigns, the new smoker still seems to emerge. Maybe the reasons behind smoking need to have a greater focus, and prevention policies, including the roles of parents, schools and shops selling to under aged children, need to have a greater focus. May be the addictive ingredients in a cigarette need to be limited and reduced over time, thereby reducing the addictive nature and making it easier for people to quit.
With all the measures introduced over a period of 50 years since the harms of smoking were first raised there has been a drop in smokers, yet smoking is an addiction affecting one in five of men and women in the UK. The question remains will this latest piece of legislation prevent a new generation of smokers.
