In the first major study of the effects of Australia's plain packaging policy for tobacco products, the Cancer Council of Victoria's Quit Victoria campaign has found the ugly plain packs increase smokers' desire to quit and lowers the appeal of smoking.
The release of the research follows the recent decision by the UK government to scrap plans to launch a similar policy. UK prime minister David Cameron cited a lack of “sufficient evidence” in announcing his government's decision not to proceed with plain packaging.
The new study, by Quit Victoria and published in the British Journal of Medicine, is based on surveys of more than 5000 smokers in November last year, as the new packaging was being rolled out ahead of its official 1 December launch date.
Of those smokers questioned, 72.3 per cent were smoking from a plain pack with the larger health warnings covering three quarters of the front of the pack . The remaining 27.7 per cent of smokers were still smoking from the older branded packs with less than a third of the pack frontage given over to health warnings.
Compared to smokers smoking from branded packs, those with plain packs said they were more likely to perceive their tobacco as being lower in both quality and in satisfaction.
They were also more likely to to think about and prioritise quitting and to support the plain packaging policy.
The acting executive director of Quit Victoria, Kylie Lindorff, said the survey results confirmed anecdotal evidence that plain packaging affected smokers' perception of the appeal of their cigarettes of choice.
“These early signs show that plain packaging is reducing the enjoyment of smoking because the packs are less visually appealing,” she said.
“The larger graphic health warnings, which now cover almost the entire front of the pack, make it almost impossible for smokers to ignore the devastating harms of smoking.”
Cancer Council Victoria chief executive Todd Harper said the research was consistent with many past experimental studies undertaken in countries yet to implement plain packaging.
“This research adds even more weight to the importance of plain packaging and should provide another strong incentive for other countries around the world to follow Australia’s lead and introduce this important health reform,” he said.
Quit Victoria's research shows smokers perceived cigarettes in plain packaging as lower in quality. Smokers were also more likely to consider quitting, the study found.
