Why Thailand risks getting its fingers burned in combating rise in smoking

[webfact]

Why Thailand risks getting its fingers burned in combating rise in smoking

By Sinclair Davidson

 

 

In the past 10 years, Thailand has attempted to curb smoking by enlarging the size of picture health warnings on cigarette packs repeatedly. Now, the gruesome photos cover up to 85 per cent of the packet. Yet the number of Thai smokers is increasing, figures show.

 

This incongruence ought to give Thai authorities pause to consider new ways to cut smoking. 

 

The most successful policies globally have usually been slow but steady – public education about health effects tends to discourage older smokers while cost and taxation tend to discourage youth from taking up the habit. Over the past two decades, however, public health advocates have shifted their attention from reducing the health costs of smoking to undermining the tobacco industry itself.

 

This largely explains the newer anti-tobacco policies that we have seen being developed – tobacco control has moved beyond public education of smokers and potential smokers to “denormalisation” of smoking. But, of course, you can’t denormalise an activity, you can only denormalise people. Smokers have become social outcasts in many parts of the world.

 

Then there is the so-called plain packaging policy pioneered by Australia in 2012, which Thailand is now considering. This policy saw two changes simultaneously introduced Down Under. First the size of the graphic health warnings on packets was increased. Second, logos on the packet were banned and replaced by a standardised colour and fonts. Since 2012, France and the UK have also adopted this policy, and Singapore is considering following suit.

 

There are two questions to be considered when introducing any new policy. Will it actually work? Is it legal? 

 

Looking at the second question, courts in both Australia and Britain have ruled that the policy is legal. It seems that intellectual property in those two countries can be expropriated without compensation. Investors beware. The WTO has recently ruled that the policy is not a violation of international IP conventions. That ruling is being appealed. 

 

The more important question is whether the policy actually works. Just because a policy is legal doesn’t mean it is effective.

 

The evidence since December 2012, when the policy was first introduced, does not support the efficacy of plain packaging. In Australia the National Drug Strategy Household Survey, taken every three years, showed no statistically significant decline in smoking between 2013 and 2016. In fact due to population growth the number of smokers increased over that time.

 

The Australian government’s own tracking study – the National Tobacco Plain Packaging Survey – commissioned to measure the impact of the policy did report that the policy was successful. But the WTO panel rubbished those claims, saying the evidence was “limited and mixed”. Even worse, in some parts, the National Tobacco Plain Packaging Survey results showed that the policy had exactly the opposite effect to the objectives.

 

Data collected by some Australian state health departments showed that smoking incidence rose after the introduction of plain packaging. Research published in the November 2017 issue of Tobacco Control showed an increase in youth smoking between 2010 and 2013. Similarly a November 2017 study in Tobacco Prevention & Cessation showed no statistically significant decline in youth smoking rates after the introduction of plain packaging.

 

While the Australian government is in denial over the failure of the plain packaging policy, the French health minister Agnes Buzyn has admitted that sales of tobacco products increased after the introduction of plain packaging in France. In the UK the Office for National Statistics reported an increase in smoking prevalence in the first year of plain packaging in that country.

 

In the meantime there has been a huge increase in smuggling and counterfeiting of cigarettes. Plain packaging has made the jobs of criminals easier, while excise tax increases have made it more profitable too. Unsurprisingly the process of denormalisation has made smokers more willing to engage with the black economy. Tobacco control has lost its way. The attempt to engage the industry rather than the health consequences of smoking has resulted in the recent failures and perhaps even an increase in smoking.

 

The solution to failure is not to redouble your efforts, but to change course. The single largest contributor to reduced smoking rates in the UK – until the failed plain packaging policy was adopted – was the mainstreaming of electronic nicotine delivery devices. Alternate mechanisms to deliver nicotine to smokers sees many smokers substitute away from combustible tobacco products to safer products and in some cases to quitting altogether.

 

The Thai government should consider these findings as it looks at plain packaging as a potential solution. Unlike Australia, France and the UK, Thailand is a developing country. A policy which compromises its intellectual property protection would inevitably lead to a loss of confidence from foreign investors, hurting Thailand’s economy more than the developed nations.

 

A better solution for Thailand would be to emulate Japan’s emphasis on education, teaching children from early age of the dangers of smoking. It is not a quick fix, of course. But if Thailand wants to lower the prevalence of smoking it should not follow the fashionable, but failed, plain packaging policies of Australia, France and the UK.

 

Sinclair Davidson is a professor of economics at RMIT University in Melbourne Australia.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/opinion/30356490

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-10-16

[Samui Bodoh]

"...A better solution for Thailand would be to emulate Japan’s emphasis on education, teaching children from early age of the dangers of smoking. It is not a quick fix, of course. But if Thailand wants to lower the prevalence of smoking it should not follow the fashionable, but failed, plain packaging policies of Australia, France and the UK..."

 

And, tax the hell out of it.

 

Cigarettes are cheap in Thailand, raise the tax on them every 6 months until they become out of reach to all (in a recent visit to my native country, smokes were around 400 Baht a pack).

 

There is NO good reason to smoke; society should make it as socially acceptable as gonorrhea.

 

 

[Thechook]

4 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

"...A better solution for Thailand would be to emulate Japan’s emphasis on education, teaching children from early age of the dangers of smoking. It is not a quick fix, of course. But if Thailand wants to lower the prevalence of smoking it should not follow the fashionable, but failed, plain packaging policies of Australia, France and the UK..."

 

And, tax the hell out of it.

 

Cigarettes are cheap in Thailand, raise the tax on them every 6 months until they become out of reach to all (in a recent visit to my native country, smokes were around 400 Baht a pack).

 

There is NO good reason to smoke; society should make it as socially acceptable as gonorrhea.

 

 

400 baht a pack, that's cheap.  In Australia you are looking at around 1500 baht and they go up 5% every 6 months but people still smoke 

[DoctorG]

Cigarette prices in OZ are now so high that those cig cabinets in stores are now the main target of smash and grab thieves. Smash the cash register open, break open the cig cabinet, and grab a packet of chips/crisps on the way out.

[zzaa09]

A government campaign to curb and reduce the use of tobacco products. 

From the same government that controls a highly profitable tobacco monopoly. 

 

 

[Chassa]

Nothing said about Thai "Rollies"?

[ozziedave007]

So as the old blokes around the village all die from lung disease and I am watching the young blokes cutting up Asbestos roofing tiles with a 9" Grinder, Silicosis from similar handling procedures of concrete products, and the rest coming off their bikes pissed up, on Yabba and belting around flat strap every night. Priorities?

 

[Misterwhisper]

Time to switch to refined sugar to get your kick. It's so much cheaper and people won't be treated as social pariahs when overindulging in syrupy soft drinks, eventually succumbing to DB2 or liver failure. 

Edited October 16, 2018 by Misterwhisper

[Mac98]

6 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

"...A better solution for Thailand would be to emulate Japan’s emphasis on education, teaching children from early age of the dangers of smoking. It is not a quick fix, of course. But if Thailand wants to lower the prevalence of smoking it should not follow the fashionable, but failed, plain packaging policies of Australia, France and the UK..."

 

And, tax the hell out of it.

 

Cigarettes are cheap in Thailand, raise the tax on them every 6 months until they become out of reach to all (in a recent visit to my native country, smokes were around 400 Baht a pack).

 

There is NO good reason to smoke; society should make it as socially acceptable as gonorrhea.

 

 

Stress is the biggest killer. Smoking eases stress. If I ever quit smoking my pipe it will be because I want to, not because you or anyone else told me to. In  fact, that's the best reason to never quit (55 years of smoking pipe now and doing quite well).

Edited October 16, 2018 by Mac98

[Aussie999]

Beware, the author is sponsored by tobacco giant Philip Morris.

"

That research, emailed to media by Philip Morris, is titled "The Plain Truth about Plain Packaging: An Econometric Analysis of the Australian 2011 Tobacco Plain Packaging Act".

One of the research authors, Professor Sinclair Davidson, is a senior fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs, a right-wing think tank that has received considerable funding from Big Tobacco over the past 10 years."

extract from 

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/big-tobacco-distributes-report-bullying-plain-packaging-laws-20141127-11v7ov.html

[connda]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

In the past 10 years, Thailand has attempted to curb smoking by enlarging the size of picture health warnings on cigarette packs repeatedly. Now, the gruesome photos cover up to 85 per cent of the packet. Yet the number of Thai smokers is increasing, figures show.

[thaiguzzi]

7 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

And, tax the hell out of it.

That's the kiddie which really drops smoker's numbers... Certainly not grisly pics and plain packaging.

7 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

(in a recent visit to my native country, smokes were around 400 Baht a pack).

Is that all?

If my mum can't get her fix on the black market or friends buying abroad, she has to pay the RRP in the UK for 40 grams of self rolling Golden Virginia rolling tobacco which is just shy of TWENTY QUID.

[Esso49]

3 hours ago, ozziedave007 said:

So as the old blokes around the village all die from lung disease and I am watching the young blokes cutting up Asbestos roofing tiles with a 9" Grinder, Silicosis from similar handling procedures of concrete products, and the rest coming off their bikes pissed up, on Yabba and belting around flat strap every night. Priorities?

 

You missed out the diseases they catch because they don't wash their hands !! ???????? but getting cigerettes priced out of the market at least is a start.

[geronimo]

Then there's the fact that vaping is actually illegal and you can face up to 5 years in jail if caught with an e-cigarette in Thailand. Personally, I think that the Thai Tobacco Monopoly is behind this, trying to save their sorry ass.

 

If you want to help people quit smoking tobacco, don't make vaping illegal, rather encourage it.

 

Oh, but wait a minute, we make tons of money out of tobacco products!!!!!

[geronimo]

6 hours ago, zzaa09 said:

A government campaign to curb and reduce the use of tobacco products. 

From the same government that controls a highly profitable tobacco monopoly. 

 

 

and the same government has made vaping illegal!!!

[blackcab]

About the author:

 

http://tobaccotactics.org/index.php?title=Sinclair_Davidson

[ukrules]

Vaping is the reason tobacco companies are going to start going out of business in the coming years unless of course they start producing liquids / vaping machines - they are already doing this.

[ChrisY1]

3 hours ago, Mac98 said:

Stress is the biggest killer. Smoking eases stress. If I ever quit smoking my pipe it will be because I want to, not because you or anyone else told me to. In  fact, that's the best reason to never quit (55 years of smoking pipe now and doing quite well).

Wonderful news...!.....Smoking eases stress caused by the body' craving for nicotine.....nothing else.

[Moonlover]

2 hours ago, connda said:

In the past 10 years, Thailand has attempted to curb smoking by enlarging the size of picture health warnings on cigarette packs repeatedly. Now, the gruesome photos cover up to 85 per cent of the packet. Yet the number of Thai smokers is increasing, figures show.

 

2 hours ago, connda said:

Don't the '7 dangerous days' campaigns have a similar ring as well?

[zzaa09]

2 hours ago, geronimo said:

and the same government has made vaping illegal!!!

Well, sure.

They see the fashion as a dire threat to their stake. 

 

Remembering back when the highly popular and marketable Beer Lao was universally available in Thailand [even delivered if one wished]. The same government chartered Thai beer monopoly put a fix on that increasing popularity real quick, as they found another threat all too much to handle. 

 

This has all changed since the growing and wide spread popularity of Thai craft/micro brews, even when "distribution" is unlawful and somewhat limited to particular venues throughout the country.

[Mac98]

On 10/16/2018 at 2:36 PM, ChrisY1 said:

Wonderful news...!.....Smoking eases stress caused by the body' craving for nicotine.....nothing else.

tell that to the troops

[stud858]

Singapore can ban chewing gum,  yet....well,  you get my point.  Humans at their silly best.

[a977]

I personally don't care if they don't ban smoking and everyone dies from smoking, I'm just sick to death of inhaling other peoples dirty second hand smoke, I have a right to free clean air. The worst offenders are overseas tourists who go into bar/restaurant sit down light up and don't give a stuff about those sitting around them, yet in their own country they are not allowed to smoke indoors or within 5 metres of a doorway. What is Thailand part of another universe?????????????/

[KKr]

On 10/16/2018 at 11:03 AM, Mac98 said:

Stress is the biggest killer. Smoking eases stress. If I ever quit smoking my pipe it will be because I want to, not because you or anyone else told me to. In  fact, that's the best reason to never quit (55 years of smoking pipe now and doing quite well).

good point.
although cigars and pipes are usually rather smelly, because of the lower burning temperature less carcinogens are released. 

Simplest way for any government to battle tobacco addiction is to list tobacco as a strongly habit forming drug , and to prosecute dealers .

(Having said that, let's not get too far from the reality ....... this drug is so addictive that users knowingly endanger even other peoples health)