Plain Packaging For Cigarettes...at Last !

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30926973

We should have got rid of all those pretty, shiny, silver and gold boxes years ago, so its well overdue. ( I know TTT will be cheering this morning ! ) The tobacco lobby has had the upper hand for far too long.

[gness]

I suppose to a newbie packaging would influence choice but I can't see it making many stop smoking.......

LB...I have a silver case and a leather one....black of course.....☺

[ToraToraTora]

many above seem to be putting out reasons why packaging would not effect them or their dad/friend/associate etc and they are right but that is not the whole story. This is not about the hard core addicts this is about mopping up those on the fringe, those possibly about to start those considering giving up. I don't know all the reasons why but it worked very well in Australia, but usage dropped significantly. Believe me, those behind this would have done much research and study on this.

[nailit]

perhaps they should all come in packaging like this http://www.moodiereport.com/Martin/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/death_cigarettes1.jpg

[trt]

## Think about it Mikey. If pictures of rotting lungs and gammy teeth don't stop people smoking then putting them in a non shiny packet is not going to work. ##

I agree ummmm, and to young people its cool to smoke, and cannabis smoking is on the increase, and that dosent come in fancy packages!

[vulcan42]

“In Australia, where plain packaging legislation was introduced in 2012 and generic packaging before that, smoking rates have fallen dramatically. Daily smoking levels are at a historic low of 12.8%, and the average number of cigarettes smoked is now just 96 per week compared to 111 in 2010."
A drop from 111 to 96 cigarettes per week is roughly 2 per day less, hardly a dramatic fall, and why no figures from 2012?

[hc4361]

I expect many brand and fashion smokers will buy fancy, blingy cigarette cases and simply discard the packaging.

[jim360]

My understanding is that the stats are less than clear on what difference it's made, if any. The Tobacco companies' stats suggested that smoker numbers were increasing -- which I suppose makes you wonder why they are complaining. One set of figures I saw suggested that tax revenues fell by about 3% in the year after the measure was introduced, but that could represent customers buying cheaper packs rather than declining smoker numbers.

All the same, it seems a measure worth trying. It doesn't need to have a dramatic impact, just a small one, and it would be successful.

[tonyav]

Nigel and some other libertarian MP's don't like the idea of this plain packaging crap.
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/plain-cigarette-packaging-pro-smoking-groups-and-ukip-condemn-move/ar-AA8thOZ

[EDDIE51]

Interesting conversation with the owner of my corner shop this morning.
He has had the shop for 15 years and he would be glad to see tobacco banned completely. He explained that the number of sales of cigs / tobacco has dropped dramatically but the money turn over due to them has increased due to the high cost. He makes no profit on them due to the increased insurance premium for having so much cash / stock on the premises.
Many customers just come in to buy tobacco products and do not buy anything else, meaning he makes no profit on a high % of sales.
He can not compete with supermarkets on grocery prices obviously, but more and more customers only buy tobacco products and none of the more profitable grocery products , which used to be common practice.
He says the plain packaging may very well finish off tobacco sales completely as it will just not make economic sense to keep low profit but high value items. He has to keep £50,000 worth of tobacco products in stock all the time but there is next to no profit in it and the insurance is 'sky high'. He says he could reduce his grocery product prices by at least 15% if he stopped tobacco sales. So there you have it, the small % of smokers are costing us all in higher prices for food shopping. The same argument applies to supermarkets as well.

[ToraToraTora]

so eddie, why does he not just stop selling it then? It's not compulsory.

[EDDIE51]

People expect it, he knows it will cause lots of rows but he says if the price continues to rise it will become uneconomic to continue.

[Prudie]

From what I heard on R4 this morning the drop in Australia was certainly not dramatic in fact it was minimal and there's absolutely no proof it was anything to do with plain packaging. The number of smokers is falling all the time - far more likely to be based on health awareness and to a lesser extent price.

[EDDIE51]

Another facet of the 'plain package' law is that smoking in private cars will be banned at the same time the package rules come out, from October 2015.
Smoking in company cars/vans/lorries is already banned as they count as a 'workplace'
Not confirmed, but there are rumours that tobacco sales from petrol stations will be banned at the same time.
If this does happen and other shop owners take the same stance as my local shopkeeper ( see my Post 15.24 yesterday) it could become very hard to find anywhere that sells tobacco products, as the low profit margin will make the sale uneconomic. I can see tobacco product sale while still fully legal being forced out due to not being financially viable. Another nail in the coffin (coughing!) is that even small shops will have to hide tobacco products from view from October. My shopkeeper says that if he is forced to buy new 'hidden' sales points he definitely will simply stop selling cigarettes.

[askyourgran]

True enough robocop, just one cigarette would start you off again. I stopped for a year in the 80's and thought just one or two cigarettes wouldn't make a difference, but that set me off smoking again. I've been stopped for just over 5 years now, and I haven't missed them. The bonus is that the temptation isn't there any more, less people smoke and the cigarette cabinets are closed up in supermarkets. But from experience it doesn't matter what is on the packet if you want a cigarette you would have one, regardless.

[craft1948]

Kids nowadays don't waste their money on cigarettes, they'd rather buy drugs...

[askyourgran]

You have a point there methyl I couldn't waste my money on something like Silk Cut it was like smoking fresh air to me. I had the brand I liked and stuck with it.

[tonyav]

I can't ever remember buying any cigarettes because I liked the look of the packet.

[askyourgran]

I once bought some Sobriani to show off to some posh mates.

[Prudie]

Neither do any of the rest of us smokers Tony.Tinpot idea by the usual smoke haters.