ASH has issued a press release today headlined 'Public support plain standardised packaging of cigarettes'.
Here's a taste:
On the closing day of the Government’s consultation on tobacco packaging figures show that more than 200,000 members of the public have responded to the Plain Packs Protect campaign, demonstrating support for plain, standardised packaging of all tobacco products.
This is backed up by research carried out by YouGov for ASH which found that 62% of adults in England support tobacco being sold in plain packaging while only 11% oppose the measure. For this poll, respondents were shown an example of a standardised pack.
The public’s support for standardised packaging is in marked contrast to the petitions and publicity campaigns of the tobacco industry which rely on retailers and those allied to the industry for support.
So, let's get this right. Plain Packs Protect, funded by almost half a million pounds of public money, has attracted over 200,000 signatures in support of plain packaging. (Many of these will be state sector workers and some will be employed directly by the tobacco control industry but let's not quibble.)
The Hands Off Our Packs campaign, run by Forest and supported by the tobacco companies, has conducted a campaign against plain packaging (but without the benefit of state funding) and has amassed 235,000 signatures - not from retailers or the tobacco industry but from the general public. (Remember them?)
Add to this 30,000 shop workers and other petitions from the likes of the trade union Unite and the final total opposed to plain packaging is certain to be higher.
Ignoring this inconvenient truth, ASH claim that the 'Public support plain standardised packaging of cigarettes'.
It's as if Labour, having lost the General Election with x million votes, was to argue that the 'Public support a Labour government' even though the Conservative party got more votes!
Yes, there is some public support for plain packaging but there is also huge opposition to the measure, as we have demonstrated.
ASH don't get it, do they? No-one twisted 235,000 people's arms to sign our petition. People can, and do, think for themselves.
ASH's press release reminds me of a very small child who, to avoid hearing something unpleasant, sticks his fingers in his ears and dances around singing "La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la".
Nurse!
PS. I wrote about the ASH/YouGov poll here: That ASH/YouGov survey – so that's how they did it!
Note that in order to get the response they wanted researchers showed a pictorial example of a plain pack with a baby in a hospital incubator and the warning 'Smoking when pregnant harms your baby'. They then asked:
The image above is an example of a 'plain standardised pack' based on Australian legislation passed last year (source: ASH, 2012). Thinking about the packaging above, to what extent would you support or oppose the following? Requiring tobacco to be sold in plain standardised packaging with the product name in standard lettering.