The aim of the packaging is to decrease the appeal of cigarettes and you have to say that this does the job.
Tobacco products bearing the new standard packaging are now available in some Irish retail outlets ahead of a nationwide rollout in September of this year.
From September on, all cigarettes and all other tobacco products in Ireland will have to be sold in plain or standardised packaging in accordance with the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Act 2015.
Certain retail outlets are stocking the products with the new packaging from Thursday, all of which are in the same neutral colour and bring into sharp focus the health warnings on the packets.
You certainly won’t forget the image on the sample provided by the Department of Health in a hurry…
To put it plainly… #TobaccoFreeIreland #HealthyIreland pic.twitter.com/ilKru6uTNp
— Department of Health (@roinnslainte) February 22, 2018
Minister Catherine Byrne welcomed the introduction of the plain packaging, saying: “Our aim is to decrease the appeal of tobacco products, to increase the effectiveness of health warnings and to reduce the chances of consumers being misled about the harmful effects of smoking.
“This packaging makes it plain that cigarettes are bad for your health.”
Standardised packaging is just one of a number of measures outlined in Tobacco Free Ireland, the ultimate aim of which is to encourage and help smokers to quit and to prevent young people from starting to smoke.
For more information, check out the Tobacco Free Action Plan on the Department of Health website.
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