Little faith in plain packs

An opinion poll published today by the smokers’ campaign group Forest EU reveals that there’s no overwhelming public support for more tobacco control measures in the EU.
The opinion poll conducted by Populus for Forest EU found that 56 percent of respondents agreed that measures to tackle smoking had gone far enough.
It found that of 10 key health objectives, curbing tobacco consumption was seen as the second least important issue for the European Commission’s DG SANTE to focus on.
And it found that only three percent of respondents thought the introduction of standardized tobacco packaging was the most effective way of reducing youth smoking rates. This figure compares with the 52 percent in favor of mandatory education in schools about the health risks of smoking; the 23 percent in favor of harsher penalties for shopkeepers caught selling tobacco to minors; and nine percent in favor of a ban on adults buying cigarettes for children.
“Lobby groups hostile to tobacco consumption are campaigning for the EU institutions and national governments to introduce new rules they believe are fundamental to eradicating smoking,” said Guillaume Périgois, director of Forest EU. “What this poll shows however is that there is relatively little public support for further extreme anti-smoking measures.
“What is similarly clear is that EU voters support a common-sense approach to tobacco control. Regulation should not be made at the behest of taxpayer-funded lobby groups but based on trustworthy, independent evidence.
“A significant number of European adults smoke, and enjoy doing it, and their contribution to society is substantial. The best way for the next European Commission to signal a move away from an excessively bureaucratic approach would be to prioritize actions in the areas that EU citizens clearly see a need.
“The results of this survey show that Forest EU’s positions are representative of those held by smokers in Europe. Like Forest EU, 73 percent of European smokers think tobacco control measures have gone far enough, 47 percent think curbing tobacco use should be DG SANTE’s bottom priority and 80 percent think bars, cafés and restaurants should have the legal option to provide a separate, well-ventilated smoking room.”
Populus interviewed 6,167 adults aged 18+ online in France (1,024), Germany (1,036), Poland (1,040), Romania (1,029), Italy (1,018) and Spain (1,020), with interviews being conducted between May 25 and May 31, 2018. These member states were said to cover 60 percent of the EU population with 310 million citizens and a diversity in smokers’ habits, tobacco control policies and historical factors.
Populus – Attitudes towards tobacco policies in the EU is available here.
Forest EU advocates for the consumer, not the tobacco industry, but is supported by the Confederation of European Community Cigarette Manufacturers (CECCM) whose members are Japan Tobacco International (JTI), British American Tobacco (BAT) and Imperial Brands PLC (IMB), and by the members of the European Smoking Tobacco Association (ESTA). Forest EU’s annual budget in 2018 is €165,000.