13 April 2012

Plain Packaging For Cigarette Packs Consultation Begins Monday

A consultation on stripping all branding from cigarette packets is due to begin on Monday.

Health minister Andrew Lansley told the Times he is “open minded” about putting this idea of plain packaging to the public.

Chief Executive of the campaigning charity Action on Smoking and Health, Deborah Arnott, said on Thursday night: "The consultation is just the first step, putting us in pole position to be the first European nation to put tobacco in plain, standardised packs.

"Cigarettes are not like sweets or toys and should not be sold in fancy, colourful packaging which makes them appealing to children," she added. "Cigarettes are full of toxins and cause fatal diseases: plain, standardised packaging makes this explicit."

Pro-smoking group Forest have launched a counter campaign, Hands Off Our Packs (Hoops).

The Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco shave described plain packaging as "the persecution of a minority lifestyle choice".

Director Simon Clark said: "Plain packaging is yet another attack on retailers and adult consumers."

The move comes a week after a law on tobacco promotion in England came into force, requiring all large shops and supermarkets to cover up cigarettes and hide tobacco products from public view.

Lansley, who said there was "no harmless level of smoking", added that the ban on displaying cigarettes was part of a move to ensure "we no longer see smoking as a part of life".