TOBACCO CONSULTATION DRAWS TO A CLOSE
TOBACCO CONSULTATION DRAWS TO A CLOSE
Posted: August 10, 2012
A consultation supported by NHS Cumbria to give people in the county a chance to have a say on plain packaging for tobacco products is almost over.
More than 70,000 people have signed up online to protect children from the dangers of smoking and show their support for plain cigarette packaging.
It was due to close last month, but the government extended the deadline to the end of today.
Su Sear a Public Health Partnership Specialist for NHS Cumbria said: “The importance of the pack design as a means of increasing brand visibility can be seen by the huge growth of brand variants in recent years, from 68 in 1998 to 114 brand variants in 2008.
“Standardised packaging is needed to reduce the attractiveness of tobacco products to children. Eight out of ten smokers start by the age of 19, as was shown in the General Household Survey 2006: Smoking and drinking among adults 2006.
“Addiction keeps them smoking into adulthood where it kills one in two long-term users.
“Marketing is known to pull children into smoking and the pack is just another marketing tool. In a recent British Heart Foundation survey of 12-25 year olds, 86 per cent of 341 young people who responded from the North West thought plain packs were less attractive than branded packs, while more than one in ten said they’d choose a brand because it was considered ‘cool’.
“Children should be protected from the marketing of a highly addictive and seriously harmful product. Plain packaging is needed because it will contribute to this protection.”
