Plain packaging of tobacco sets dangerous precedent, says new report

Now this is interesting.

The Adam Smith Institute (ASI), one of the world's leading free market think tanks, has today published a report slamming the proposal for plain packaging of tobacco.

Written by Chris Snowdon, author of Velvet Glove Iron Fist, The Spirit Level Delusion and The Art of Suppression, the report concludes that:

• there is no evidence that the proposals will reduce consumption or give any public health benefits
• plain packaging may lead to an increase in the counterfeit cigarette trade, making cheap tobacco more easily available to young would-be smokers, and
• the policy creates a dangerous precedent because plain packaging could be extended to other products such as alcohol and fatty foods

"It is extraordinary," says Snowdon, "that a government which claims to be against excessive regulation should be contemplating a law which even the provisional wing of the anti-smoking lobby considered unthinkable until very recently.

"It seems that fanaticism has become institutionalised and a handful of extremists have become the de facto policy makers in matters related to tobacco. The public are gradually waking up to the fact that these neo-prohibitionists will never be satisfied. There is always another cause to campaign for, always new demands to be met. If it is not smoking, it is drinking. If it is not drinking, it is eating.

"Plain packaging is the most absurd, patronising and counterproductive policy yet advanced under the disingenuous pretext of ‘public health’. It will serve only to inconvenience retailers, stigmatise consumers and delight counterfeiters. Those who would dictate what we eat and drink are already incorporating plain packaging into their plans. It’s time to say ‘enough’. The monomaniacs have had their own way for too long.”

You can download the full report here. It has been widely reported in this morning's newspapers. Chris was also on the Today programme (BBC Radio 4) with Deborah Arnott of ASH. More on that later.

PS. If you missed it there's a great piece on plain packaging by Martin Cullip for The Free Society (see Plain ugly). A shorter version appears on the Hands Off Our Packs! campaign blog.