The Federal Government’s plain packaging laws for cigarettes have come into action, with the Cancer Council of Australia saying the new laws may prove to be substantially more effective than anticipated.

 

Cancer Council’s CEO, Professor Ian Olver, said that recent research suggests that consumers find plain packaged cigarettes taste worse than their glossy branded counterparts.

 

We were always confident that plain packaging would take away a lot of the glamour that seduces young people into a tobacco addiction, because the evidence is so compelling,” Professor Olver said.

 

“Since retailers began phasing in the plain packs, we’re also hearing reports of established smokers being turned off the drab brown packet and the enhanced graphic warning.

 

“We’ve even heard that some smokers suspect the flavour of the tobacco in the plain packs tastes worse and has been changed, when it hasn’t. It’s more likely that without the glossy pack and the iconic branding, tobacco is simply tasting more like the lethal poison that it is.

 

“This is great news, because anyone who is deterred from smoking because of plain packaging will have dramatically reduced their risk of dying from one of the 14 cancers caused by smoking.”