France announced plans to introduce plain packaging of cigarettes as part of tough anti-smoking laws aimed to lower smoking in the country where people love their tobacco almost as much as their wine — 31% adults smoke in France.
Plain packaging will result in all cigarette and tobacco packages looking exactly the same. They will be of the same size and colour with the brand name written in small, standardised lettering under a graphic health warning, which is a grim reminder of the many horrible ways in which tobacco will slowly and surely kill its users.
Five steps to quit smoking:
1. Identify your reasons for quitting.
2. Set a date, usually within 10 days. If you smoke mostly at work, try quitting on a weekend. If you smoke mostly at home, quit on a weekday.
3. Identify your barriers to quitting (such as friends, spouse, colleagues smoking or you smoking while drinking).
4. Make specific plans for dealing with these barriers. Identify coping strategies that work for you (such as walking away, chewing gum, or calling a friend).
5. Get family and friends to help by not smoking around you.
No logos or brand advertising will be allowed on the packs, which will also put an end to tobacco industry’s surrogate advertising using symbols and associations, such as the Marlboro Man, Joe Camel and Benson & Hedges’ signature ampersand, among others. France is also banning smoking in cars with children under the age of 12, smoking in areas frequented by children, and advertising for electronic cigarettes.
France’s Health Minister Marisol Touraine said her anti-smoking plan, to be introduced in stages over two years, aims to bring down the number of smokers by 10% by 2019 and make children born today the country’s first ‘non-smoking’ generation in 20 years.
With 31% of adults smoking daily, France has among the highest smoking rates in Europe, compared to 14% in the UK and 24% in Germany. UK, Ireland and New Zealand, too, are planning to ban branded cigarette packages.
The tobacco industry is predictably outraged and insists that plain-packaging makes no difference to smoking rates. Some companies claim it has actually pushed up cigarette smuggling and sale of cheaper, contraband cigarettes.
Data from Australia, which became the the first country in the world to introduce plain packaging in 2012, proves them wrong. Australia recorded its sharpest ever fall in tobacco use, with daily smoking
