Plain cigarette packaging introduced – A guide into the new rules

It is now almost a week since the new smoking legislation came into force in Britain, but what are the changes implemented and exactly does it mean you may ask?

From May 20, cigarettes are now being sold in green-coloured standardised, plain cigarette packaging depicting graphic warnings showing the grave health dangers emanating from smoking. These new rules are mainly aimed at helping to prevent youngsters from picking up the habit.

In a report compiled by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) published in July 2015, it was claimed that around 207,000 children in the UK start smoking each year, with an estimated two-thirds taking up smoking prior to turning 18 and over 80% before the age of 20.

ASH also say there’s around 10million smokers in the UK and a further 2.6million are using e-cigarettes.

However, new rules coming into play under the Tobacco and Regulated Products Regulations 2016 will look at getting more people to stop smoking, reducing the number of nicotine addicts by about 2.4million.

Changes will affect all cigarettes, hand-rolling tobacco and e-cigarettes manufactured for sale across Britain.

All products had to adhere to the regulations from May 20, however retailers have been given a one-year transitional period whilst old stock in sold.

Smokers going into their local shop for a packet of Marlboro cigarettes will no longer be able to spot the famous red and white packaging, but will now be faced with every brand bearing an identical olive-green colour, opening and font styles.

‘lipstick-style’ packs targeted at women, such as Vogue cigarettes, are also now forbidden, with at least 65% of the packaging being covered with public health warnings, graphic photos and text clearly showing the horrendous effects that smoking can do to the human body.

It isn’t just the packaging that has been hit hard…Promotional material will now no longer be able to utilise misleading descriptive words like “lite”, “natural” or “organic”. Statements such as “free of additives” and “less harmful than other brands” have also been outlawed.

Quantity has also been affected with the new changes, with all packs having to contain a minimum of 20 cigarettes so there is sufficient space on the packing itself to display all the health warnings.

Moreover, small bags of rolling tobacco will also be banned. Pouches now have to weigh at least 30g, whilst the current smallest pouch size is 8g.

Menthol cigarette smokers will be devastated to learn that flavoured cigs are being eradicated, becoming completely illegal by May 20 2020.

Other flavours set to go in the next four years include fruit, spice, herbs, alcohol, candy and vanilla.
Presently, there is no limits with regards to refill container size, but this is now consigned to the past. Containers will be capped at 10ml and 2ml for disposable e-cigarettes, cartridges and tanks.

This will undoubtedly impact the price of the containers as e-cig users can no longer purchase in bulk. Also, the highest strength of a vile of vaping liquid will now be 20mg per ml of nictotine, dropping from 24mg.

E-cigarette packing will also be forced to change. About 30% of the packet has to have the warning: “This product contains nicotine which is a highly addictive substance.” As vaping liquid can be dangerous if ingested, e-cigarettes now have to be childproof and tamper-proof.

Stanford University halts tobacco sales on campus – will UK Universities follow?

One of the world’s leading Universities is leading by example and clamping down on smoking by banning sale of cigarettes in addition to smoking on campus.

Stanford University in California’s Bay Area will force its campus shops to cease the sale of all tobacco products from 1 March, arguing that the sale of tobacco does not sit well with its work on the promotion of healthy living.

The high-profile university boasts almost 700 buildings and spans more than 8,000 acres. It often makes an appearance in the top 5 global university league tables and now joins other universities in the US to come down heavy on smoking.

Stanford’s smoking rules were given an overhaul three years ago forbidding smoking inside any building and not within a 9m distance of a building, in addition to being banned at outdoor athletic events.

Currently there is already a complete ban on outdoor smoking at the university’s school of medicine but the new rules mean next week that students cannot obtain any kind of tobacco product from vendors at convenience stores at the Valero gas station and Tresidder Union on campus.

Susan Weinstein, assistant vice president for business development and responsible for overseeing the vendors, says the new tougher rules have been in the pipeline for many months.

”The university is an advocate for the health and well-being of its entire community, and tobacco sales are inconsistent with our many programs that support healthy habits and behaviours,” Ms. Weinstein commented to the school’s daily email newsletter, the Stanford Report.

According to recent report made available by the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, there are an estimated 1,182 college campuses in the US that now operate with a 100% smoke-free policy. This is almost double the number in 2011 and it is believe that of the 1,182 smoke-free campuses, 811 are even completely tobacco-free.

In recent times electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have surged in popularity across the US and here in the UK, creating a concern as to whether e-cigarettes are merely used as a smoking cessation method, or are being used as a gateway into smoking much more dangerous tobacco cigarettes.

However, Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest, criticised Stanford for “taking the war on tobacco to such extreme lengths”.

He said: “It sends the message that American colleges are increasingly illiberal, preferring prohibition to education, which is bizarre. If they won’t defend people’s right to buy a legal product it also calls into question their commitment to defend other rights like freedom of speech or assembly. Banning the sale of tobacco won’t stop students smoking. It could make it cooler because the university is effectively driving it underground.”

New York’s smoking laws due to be tightened

In the UK we have just come to the end of Stoptober, which finished on 28 October. The campaign was to encourage smokers to think about their health and the dangers of tobacco, in the hope that many will stop smoking for good.

However, across the Atlantic Ocean it seems our American counterparts are just as dedicated to reducing the number of people smoking with the fantastic news that New York City Council has voted to increase the minimum age for buying cigarettes from 18 to 21.

The current age limit of 18 years of age is a federal minimum that is standard in many places. Smokers are banned from smoking in any New York park and beach, in addition to the majority of the city’s restaurants.

The banning of anyone under the age of 21 purchasing or being sold cigarettes in New York City is amongst the strictest anti-smoking legislation in the U.S., and will be set at a higher age than nearly all other areas of the U.S. with the exception of just a few select places.

Those who lobbied for the change in the law have pointed to disappointing city statistics that show smoking rates for the youth of New York City has plateaued at 8.5% since 2007.

New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is a strong advocate for anti-smoking measures and he now has 30 days to sign-off the bill. After this, the bill will be activated 180 days later.

“We know that tobacco dependence can begin very soon after a young person first tries smoking so it’s critical that we stop young people from smoking before they ever start,” Bloomberg said in a statement.

Mr Bloomberg had initially attempted to pass through legislation that would force all shops to have cigarettes out of public view, but this plan was scrapped earlier this year.

Another measure to be pushed through by New York City council members will see a base price of $10.50 (£6.55) being set for a packet of cigarettes and to bolster law enforcement’s role in the trade of illegal tobacco sales and distribution.

“This will literally save many, many lives,” said city councillor James Gennaro, the bill’s sponsor, whose mother and father died from tobacco-related illnesses. “I’ve lived with it, I’ve seen it…but I feel good today.”

As expected, cigarette companies have hit back and argue youths who smoke will simply turn to the black market to obtain their cigarettes, whilst there are those who consider it absurd that a person deemed to be old/mature enough to serve in the military is then told they are not old enough to smoke.

“New York City already has the highest cigarette tax rate and the highest cigarette smuggling rate in the country,” said Bryan D. Hatchell, a spokesman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, which produces Camel and various other brands. “Those go hand in hand and this new law will only make the problem worse.”

Following yesterday’s vote, New York is now the largest city by some distance to ban the sake of cigarettes to 19 and 20-year-olds and a similar ban could occur in Hawaii, depending on the vote in December.

Presently, Needham, Massachusetts already has a minimum tobacco-buying age of 21 in, and this age will also be applied come January in nearby Canton, Massachusetts. New Jersey are also contemplating the same approach to buying cigarettes too.