The Scottish Government may introduce plain packaging for tobacco products as part of a new tobacco strategy. The move is part of a hugely ambitious target to have less than 5% of the population smoking by 2034. The plans would have a devastating effect on the convenience sector and many stores would be under threat of closure.
Health Michael Matheson launched the new strategy during a visit to an education programme for 16-24 year olds in Carnegie College, Fife.
Mr Matheson said: “We’ve already seen the huge health benefits that followed the ban on smoking in public places. This Government is determined to build on this success, improving health and reducing health inequalities by reducing the number of people smoking. Our vision of a tobacco-free generation is about reaping the health, social and economic benefits that a significant reduction in smoking would bring – it would be an achievement of which we could all be proud. That’s why strong and decisive action, like standardised packaging and increased education, are the right steps to prevent young people from taking up smoking.”
The Government confirmed it would await the UK Government and the other Devolved Administrations’ responses to the UK wide consultation on standardised packaging before “deciding on the most appropriate legislative option for introducing this initiative.”
Jorge da Motta, Managing Director, JTI UK said: “Plain packaging would not have any public health benefits and would hit Scotland’s 5,800 law-abiding independent retailers hardest. Plain packaging proposals will provide a step-by-step guide for the counterfeiting of legitimate products, and make it even less expensive to copy them; the biggest winners in Scotland would be international criminal gangs.”
Gayatri Barua-Howe, Trade Communications Manager at Imperial Tobacco ssaid: “We’re still awaiting the full summary of the response to the consultation. It’s pointless to speculate until then. It must be remembered though that 500,000 people opposed plain packaging in the consultation.”
On the Government’s 2034 target, Barua-Howe said: “Millions of people enjoy smoking tobacco. I don’t know how they can achieve the proposed target. You can’t force someone to stop what they enjoy doing and if they made it illegal, the illicit trade would be the only winner.”
Simon Clark, Direct of smoking lobby group Forest, which runs the Hands Off Our Packs campaign, said: “We support all reasonable measures, including education, that will discourage children from smoking. Plain packaging is unreasonable because there is no credible evidence that it will have any impact on youth smoking rates.
“There is a real risk that standardised packaging, like excessive taxation, will encourage illicit trade and if that happens those at greatest risk will be children because criminal gangs don’t care who they sell cigarettes to. Plain packaging is designed to denormalise a legal product and millions of adult consumers. What next? Alcohol, fizzy drinks and fast food?”
The key actions from the tobacco control strategy include:
- Setting 2034 as a target for a tobacco-free Scotland
- Supporting the introduction of standardised packaging
- Investing in education programmes for young people
- Implementing smoke-free hospital grounds by 2015
- Delivering a national marketing campaign on the danger of second-hand smoke
- Setting a target for reducing children’s exposure to second hand smoke.
For full details of the Government report please visit:
Tobacco Control Strategy – Creating a Tobacco-Free Generation