The start of 2017 has seen tobacco control in France boosted with a series of ground-breaking tobacco control measures, as detailed in a recent article by Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada. After a phase-in period, cigarette plain packaging is fully in force as of 1 January 2017. As in other countries that have already introduced plain […]
Category: plain packaging
Both Sides of the Argument? JTI-MacDonald’s Anti-Plain Packaging Spin in Canada
Julia Smith Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University JTI-MacDonald recently launched a multimedia campaign, Both Sides of the Argument, to sway public opinion against proposed plain packaging legislation in Canada. The campaign includes advertisements on popular radio stations, a website, posters in restaurant and bar bathrooms, advertisements in national newspapers and sponsored posts […]
Big Tobacco’s dirty tricks in opposing plain packaging
Jenny Hatchard, University of Bath Tobacco companies want to sell you cigarettes – today, tomorrow and for the foreseeable future. Whether you’re at the tobacco counter or out with friends, glitzy cigarette packaging is a really important part of their sales pitch. Tobacco companies are aware of this. It’s why they are so opposed to […]
Finally, some truth in advertising from the tobacco industry
Stan Shatenstein Editor & Publisher, STAN Bulletin JTI-Macdonald is one of Canada’s big three tobacco firms. On Saturday 17 September, it ran an ad in several of Canada’s leading newspapers to argue against tobacco plain packaging legislation, which the Canadian government is currently considering. The ad is shown here: […]
New Zealand: no more ‘silent salesman’ – cigarette plain packaging passed
On 8 September, New Zealand joined a growing international move to outlaw the tobacco industry’s ‘silent salesman’ when it became the latest country to introduce cigarette plain packaging. The legislation – the Smoke-Free Environments (Tobacco Standardised Packaging) Amendment Bill was passed on its third and final reading in the New Zealand parliament with 108 votes […]
UK plain packs court decision: interests at stake ‘collide in the most irreconcilable of ways’
The decision on 19 May 2016 by the High Court of Justice of England and Wales to dismiss the legal challenges brought by the four multinational tobacco companies against the UK’s tobacco plain packaging legislation was a major blow to the industry. The 386 page ruling addresses a wide range of legal claims and evidence; […]
Industry-funded International Tax and Investment Center responds to criticism by attempting to muddy the waters
Karen A Evans-Reeves, Anna B Gilmore and Andy Rowell Tobacco Control Research Group, University of Bath, The tobacco industry is under attack. In just two weeks, in May 2016, its tactic of challenging any law that threatens its profits, took a big hit. The arbitration panel, that tobacco giant Philip Morris International (PMI) had hoped […]
World No Tobacco Day 2016: Get Ready for Plain Packaging
This year for World No Tobacco Day, the World Health Organization is urging governments to build on advertising and promotion bans by introducing plain packaging of tobacco products. The measure is the next logical step in stripping away any hint of glamour associated with smoking. It is also an important way of preventing packaging creating misleading suggestions of […]
New Zealand study: Dissuasive cigarette sticks – the next step in standardised (‘plain’) packaging?
A study published by Tobacco Control in December 2015 by a team of New Zealand and Australian researchers explored extending the concept of plain packaging one step further – to the cigarette stick itself. New Zealand is moving towards introducing plain packaging; incorporating dissuasive cigarette sticks would put it at the forefront of innovative tobacco […]
Health ministers from around the world agree plain tobacco packaging priority
In excellent news for public health and bad news for big tobacco, Yahoo! news reports: Ministers from 10 countries gathered in Paris Monday to launch a common drive to introduce plain cigarette packaging with the aim of stubbing out high smoking rates among young people. Representatives from nations as far afield as New Zealand, Australia, […]