Plain cigarette packaging ‘reduces appeal for female smokers’

Introducing plain cigarette packaging could be an effective means of discouraging young women from taking up smoking, a study has revealed.

Scientists at Stirling University have carried out research involving 187 young female smokers from across Scotland, who were provided with plain brown cigarette packs as they went about their everyday lives.

Results suggested that the subjects felt more negative about the experience when using these packs and smoked fewer cigarettes, while giving greater thought to kicking the habit.

This reinforces the belief that the slim, elegant designs used by tobacco companies helps to make the products more appealing, suggesting that the introduction of standardised packaging could be an effective anti-smoking strategy.

Sarah Woolnough, Cancer Research UK's executive director of policy and information, said: "We are still waiting for the UK government to respond to the public consultation on tobacco packaging. Every day we wait more children will be lured into the lethal addiction."

Earlier this month, a survey from Cancer Research UK showed that 65 percent of the public do not trust the tobacco industry to present believable, independent arguments about how to reduce smoking rates.