A smokers’ lobby group has criticised a call for the government to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes.
Responding to a report published by the British Heart Foundation, Forest (Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco) said the introduction of plain packs would have little impact on the number of young people who start smoking.
Director Simon Clark said: “There is no evidence that plain packs will make any difference to youth smoking rates. The vast majority of young people are influenced not by packaging but by peer pressure and the fact that members of their family are smokers.
“Tens of millions of people have been exposed to branded cigarette packs for decades and have never been encouraged to start smoking. To suggest that people are so easily influenced by the sight of a coloured pack is not only patronising, it’s downright offensive.
“Plain packaging has nothing to do with youth smoking rates. It is just another step towards the denormalisation and eventual prohibition of a legal consumer product that is enjoyed by millions of adults and generates billions of pounds each year for the government.”
Source: Forest
