Plain cigarette packs could help people quit smoking: Study

A new study shows that cigarettes packaged in a plain manner are less appealing to smokers and get them thinking about the urgency to quit smoking, says a study.

The study published in the online journal BMJ Open was based on interviews of 536 smokers in the Australian state of Victoria during November 2012 when plain packs were already available in the run-up to and immediately after implementation of the legislation requiring all tobacco sold at retail outlets to be contained in plain packs.

The results indicated that perception of exaggerated tobacco harm or the frequency with which smokers thought about the damage cigarettes might be doing to them differed little between the two groups. But plain pack smokers were 51 percent more likely to back the plain pack policy than were brand pack smokers.

Compared with smokers still using brand packs, the plain pack smokers were 66 percent more likely to think their cigarettes were poorer quality than a year ago. And they were 70 percent more likely to say they found them less satisfying.