Tobacco brands feel the pain of plain packs

In a piece that first appeared on The Conversation,  Sunanda Creagh, and Alexia Attwood say plain packaging on tobacco products is associated with lower smoking appeal, greater support for the policy and a higher urgency to quit among adult smokers.

Since last year, cigarettes in Australia are sold in unbranded packets that feature a larger graphic health warning with new information messages and confronting images.

The study, conducted by Victorian researchers and published in the journal BMJ Open, is the first to examine how plain packaging affects smokers thoughts in practice following the roll-out of plain packaging laws in Australia in late 2012. Previous studies have only looked at simulated plain packs.