Warnings on every cigarette: extending health messaging to the consumption experience

The path to a smoke-free England by 2030

“…Tough controls on advertising mean that pack inserts and cigarettes themselves are the last available platforms on which the tobacco industry can promote its products. Work in Canada supports mandating pack inserts that include affirmative messages about quitting and links to smoking cessation services 15. Likewise, a requirement for “dissuasive cigarettes,” which are in unappealing colours or carry health messages on the cigarette paper should be introduced 15…”

“…For clinicians, the key priority is to ensure that all patients have access to timely and effective treatment for tobacco dependence16 and plans to deliver the Ottawa model of comprehensive hospital initiated smoking cessation programmes17 across the NHS should be accelerated and extended to primary care. The doubling of quit attempts by smokers in Greater Manchester following properly funded media campaigns at a time when quit attempts stood still in the rest of England is a useful reminder that in tobacco control the more we do, the better the result 456812131415…”

Let’s not lose focus on what we know works for smoking cessation

“…Health warnings on individual cigarettes, as presented by Dr. Moodie, 1 are a novel intervention that could decrease smoking rates. However, public health evidence is clear that education alone has a limited impact on discouraging smoking without broader community-based changes.…”

Responding to health inequities in New Zealand: the potential of dissuasive cigarettes

“…1 Emerging research is developing an evidence base that suggests that dissuasive cigarettes may offer significant potential in combating smoking. [2][3][4][5][6][7] Much of this research has been led by researchers in New Zealand, [8][9][10][11][12] but further research has also been conducted in Norway 4 and the United Kingdom. 13 There are several means to portray cigarettes as repellent, including proposals to remove additives such as sugar and menthol, ensuring that cigarettes taste bitter and far less palatable to smokers.…”

“…Suggestions for the warnings include messages such as 'Smoking kills' or 'This causes cancer'. 3,6,10 The second approach is to colour the cigarette paper itself a repellent colour. Recent research has explored the use of colours such as grey, 5 'slimy green', and most successfully of all to date 'faecal yellow brown'.…”