First evidence from Australia shows standard cigarette packs encourage smokers to quit

The first study on the impact of Australia’s ban on branded cigarette packs has indicated that the legislation there has been a success and is discouraging people from smoking. The Irish Cancer Society has welcomed the evidence which was published online by the British Medical Journal today. Australia formally introduced plain brown packaging, accompanied by graphic health warnings taking up three quarters of the front of the pack, for all tobacco products on December 1 2012. So far, it is the only country in the world to have done so, with Ireland to become the second following an announcement by Minister Reilly in May 2013.

The research shows that compared with smokers who were still using brand packs when the research was carried out, the plain pack smokers were 66% more likely to think their cigarettes were poorer quality than a year ago. And they were 70% more likely to say they found them less satisfying. They were also 81% more likely to have thought about quitting at least once a day during the previous week and to rate quitting as a higher priority in their lives than smokers using brand packs.

The authors state that thinking about quitting is important: “The finding that smokers smoking from a plain pack evidenced more frequent thought about, and priority for quitting, than branded pack smokers is important, since frequency of thoughts about quitting has strong predictive validity in prospective studies for actually making a quit attempt.”

The Chief Executive of the Irish Cancer Society, John McCormack, welcomes the findings: “The new evidence from Australia shows us that standardised packaging is working,” he says. “Not only do smokers find their cigarettes less appealing, but most importantly, the packs act as a motivation to quit. We believe that in addition to encouraging current smokers to stop smoking, the standardised packs will deter young people from starting to smoke because cigarettes will not be presented in an attractive way.

“We know from the Australian experience that the tobacco industry will fight this legislation at every stage. But the reality is that the industry will be beaten and the Irish people will be better protected from a product that kills one in two smokers. We hope that the legislation will be introduced as soon as possible and we stand beside the Minister every step of the way until the legislation comes into force,” said Mr McCormack.

Minister James Reilly announced in May that he received full Cabinet approval to begin drafting legislation that would make it illegal to put branding on cigarette packets. This is because tobacco companies often use cigarette packaging for promotional purposes. The new packs will all look the same with the logos and colours removed. The graphic health warnings will occupy 75% of the pack face and the brand name will be typed in a regular font.

“We know that the tobacco industry effectively markets its product to young people in Ireland because Irish children start smoking at a younger age than in any other European country,” said Mr. McCormack. “But recent health legislation, such as the ban on cigarette displays in shops and on cigarette advertising, has restricted the ways in which the tobacco industry can attract new smokers. Now, one of the only ways left to recruit new, young smokers is through attractive packet design and that is why this legislation is so urgently needed”, he said.