| Kate Kelland |
LONDON (Reuters) – Studies on the health impact of “plain” or standardised cigarette packs suggest they can deter non-smokers from taking up the habit and may cut the number of cigarettes smokers get through, scientists said on Tuesday.
In a collection of scientific papers in the journal Addiction, researchers said that while standardised packs were still too new to provide substantial evidence, studies so far showed they were likely to reduce smoking rates.
Britain plans before May to become the second country in the world to introduce non-branded, standardised packaging for cigarettes, after the government promised last month to pass legislation that would come into effect in 2016.
Australia introduced standardised packaging two years ago in the face of fierce opposition from the tobacco industry. Its law forced cigarettes to be sold in plain green packs with health warnings and images showing the damaging effects of smoking.
In the Addiction series of studies, researchers found that after Australia’s move in 2012, when plain packages were introduced and the health warnings and images on them were made larger, smoking in outdoor areas of cafes, bars and restaurants declined and fewer smokers left their packs visible on tables.
Another study found that removing brand imagery from packs increased the focus on health warnings among occasional smokers and adolescents just starting to smoke.