June 07, 2018
Packages plain but what next?
The wash out period to cleanse the market of branded tobacco packages has ended, but Maori public health organisation Hapai Te Hauora says more than plain packaging will be needed to bring the smoking rate down.
From now cigarettes and loose tobacco can only be sold in standard dark browny green packs plastered with health warnings.
Hapai tobacco control advocate Mihi Blair says it’s time for the government to target not just smokers but tobacco companies if it wants to reach its goal of a smokefeee Aotearoa by 2025.
A good start would be cutting down the number of places where tobacco products can be sold and addressing the over-supply to poorer communities.
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