Despite yesterday’s landmark Cabinet decision, it is likely to be some years before plain packaging on tobacco products becomes a reality.
Aside from the practical details of designing plain packets and the need for a run-in period, the measure is certain to be challenged in the courts. The stakes in any such litigation will be huge: as the first state in the European Union to introduce plain packaging, the Republic will be the focus of massive attention to see whether it comes up with a workable formulation of this latest anti-smoking measure.
Plain packaging doesn’t mean cigarettes will be told in blank white packs. In Australia, the first country to introduce the measure, in 2012, the requirement was for olive-coloured packs with hard-hitting health messages. Research had identified olive green as the least appealing colour, especially to young people.
Campaigners believe the removal of branding and logos will have a major effect on young people, who tend to be particularly open to marketing messages. However, the only evidence so far is from Australia, and even there it’s probably too early to tell.
A study, one year after the measure was introduced, found a sharp increase in the number of smokers seeking help to quit. The tobacco industry claims the Australian experiment has failed, because there has been no fall-out in smoking rates while the incidence of smuggling has increased.
Source: Paul Cullen, Irish Times, 11/06/14
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