The proof is in the packaging. Making all cigarette packets look the same reduces the positive feelings smokers associate with specific brands and encourages quitting, Australian research shows.
The findings come ahead of the UK and Ireland introducing plain tobacco packaging in May.
Australia was the first nation to introduce such legislation in December 2012. Since then, all cigarettes have been sold in plain olive packets with standard fonts and graphic health warnings.
The primary goal was to make cigarettes less appealing so that people would not take up smoking in the first place. But an added bonus has been the number of existing smokers who have ditched the habit.
Between 2010 and 2013, the proportion of daily smokers in Australia dropped from 15.1 to 12.8 per cent – a record decline. The number of calls to quit helplines also increased by 78 per cent after the policy change.
Hugh Webb, et al. Smoke signals: The decline of brand identity predicts reduced smoking behaviour following the introduction of plain packaging, Addictive Behaviors Reports, DOI: 10.1016/j.abrep.2017.02.003
(Score: 2) by Fluffeh on Monday February 27 2017, @11:51AM (1 child)
Actually, I have smoked for many years - and I enjoy the taste and flavour of what I smoke. Sorry if that doesn't fit the narrative - but there's a good chance that for most smokers, the flavour is a significant aspect of what keeps them smoking.
Having said that, I would have been happy for cigarettes to be made illegal at any point - basically make it impossible for me to buy them, but that was too hard for the politic! I quit a few months ago using a mix of Zyban (spelling?) and willpower as I stopped way before the drugs kicked in - day two actually - and haven't looked since then.
I would encourage anyone who smokes to take a week or two off on holidays, have a prescription of Zyban ready to go, your GP can help you with that, and a small circle of friends to support you during the first two weeks - you will become a complete CUNT on Zyban - but it will help you quit, then you get off Zyban, stop being a cunt and no longer smoke! Means to an end if there ever was one. Personally, I would kiss the feet/ass of the person that invented it for the change it has made to my life.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 27 2017, @04:25PM
There's no other way to interpret "I would have been happy for cigarettes to be made illegal at any point - basically make it impossible for me to buy them".