'Plain' Cigarette packaging not a boost to illegal tobacco use, study suggests

A study of smokers in Australia suggests there is "no evidence" that the introduction of 'plain' cigarette packaging has changed the way people buy cigarettes.

Researchers writing in BMJ Open found no increase in the use of illegal tobacco and no sign of cheaper brands flooding the market.

They surveyed 2,000 smokers before and after the laws came into force in 2012.

Tobacco companies said the survey was limited and not statistically robust.

The study, from the Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer in Melbourne, also found no evidence of small retailers, such as newsagents, convenience stores and corner shops, being hurt by the change.

 

Opponents of 'plain' or standardised packaging in Australia and the UK, such as the tobacco industry, had previously predicted that this would happen.

Standardised packaging of tobacco products was introduced in Australia in December 2012. It was the first country in the world to do so.

Since then, all tobacco products have to be sold in standardised dark brown packaging with large graphic health warnings. There are no tobacco industry logos, brand imagery, colours or promotional text on the packaging. Brand and product names are printed in small text.

'Very low'

Study participants were identified using an annual health survey of adults from the Australian state of Victoria.

They were contacted by phone towards the end of 2011, 2012 and 2013 and asked specific questions about their cigarette purchasing habits. 

In all years, the use of low-cost Asian brands among regular smokers was found to be "very low" at under 2%. This figures did not significantly increase between 2011 and 2013.

The percentage of smokers who had bought unbranded illegal tobacco in the past 12 months was found to be between 4 and 5%, which did not change significantly between 2011 and 2013.

In 2013, 2.6% of smokers said they had bought at least one pack of cigarettes which was not packaged according to the new legislation in the past three months.

But the study said there were "too few cases to estimate percentages" of those buying contraband over a three-month period.