‘No evidence for tobacco’s plain packaging position’

Researchers from the University of Bath, in the United Kingdom, found no independent evidence supporting the tobacco industry’s arguments against plain packaging, reports the Jersey Evening Post.

In a study released on Dec. 3, the researcher reviewed 74 pieces of evidence cited by tobacco companies to argue that plain packaging would have negative effects on the economy and fuel illicit trade.

The researchers found that there were no independent, peer-reviewed reports supporting the industry position and that 47 percent of the pieces of evidence reviewed came from reports commissioned by the industry itself or from third parties with financial connections to the industry.

More than two-thirds of the evidence supplied by tobacco companies was just opinion, according to the researchers. It was provided by business or retail organizations with tobacco company members, trade unions with tobacco company employees, and 51 MPs opposed to plain packaging, seven of whom have allegedly accepted industry hospitality.