SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 27 2017, @02:05PM (1 child)
Nicotine being one of the least unhealthy aspects of smoking, I'd definitely suggest perhaps looking into some alternatives beyond the patch. Part of the trick seems to be to avoid smoking cessation aids and instead look at things like lozenges, snus (dear god make sure to get something like General or one of the scandinavian brands; the American options were utterly pointless and terrible), or as others have suggested, vaping (snuff and dip of course are options, and while being reduced harm, they're generally more problematic than options I mentioned...and besides, dip is gross). Often this can be done while saving money, and in some cases, give you the ability to have your nicotine most anywhere you feel like.
Swedes have one of the lowest cancer rates in the world. Not because they don't use nicotine, but because they get it from snus, not cigarettes.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 27 2017, @04:59PM
Thanks! I suppose I hadn't cast my net wide enough. Lozenges may work well. I didn't know what snus was (had heard of snuff), so I looked it up, and I'll keep it in mind.