UK:NHS CUMBRIA CAMPAIGNERS HOPE TO TAKE THE ‘COOL' OUT OF CIGS

Source from:  in-cumbria magazine (CN Group) (uk)  05/25/2012

NHS Cumbria has joined a national battle to fight against promotional cigarette packaging, and campaign for plain, standardised boxes. At the moment tobacco companies can design their cigarettes and boxes however they want. Examples include brightly-coloured cigarettes with gold-foil tips which come in a compact-style case. Slimline cigarettes are embellished with vintage-style writing, packed in a delicate, miniature box which you could drop into the daintiest of purses. One packet pops out an imitation MP3 player on being squeezed at the sides, while another houses slick black cigarettes with a modern gold logo. Su Sear, from NHS Cumbria, said youngsters are tempted by the "cool" designs. She said: "The number of people who smoke is coming down every year, and the only way the tobacco companies can sell their product is to get people starting, and that's young people – that's children. "Smoking is a childhood addiction – statistics show 83 per cent of smokers and former smokers in the North West tried smoking before they were 14 years old." The county-wide campaign is especially significant in Barrow. Smoking prevalence in the borough is 29.3 per cent compared to 21.4 per cent in Cumbria and 23.7 per cent in the North West. NHS Cumbria and other North West Primary Care Trusts fund Tobacco Free Futures – which aims to break addiction and exposure to tobacco in communities. The organisation has done research with teenagers and children as young as primary school age, and found the elaborate packaging and designed cigarettes are a huge hit. In a recent British Heart Foundation survey, 86 per cent of young people surveyed in the North West thought plain packs were less attractive than branded packs. Mrs Sear said: "If you look at it, you can see straight away that the packaging is targeting young girls and boys because it's so attractive. "The tobacco companies spend millions on marketing, because they know it works." The government has launched a public consultation on whether or not to standardise the packaging of tobacco products – meaning boxes would have to be the same size, in a bland colour, with the brand name written in a simple, universal font and warning imagery on the front.Enditem