Olivia Mitchell says changing cigarette packs will not stop smokers

A Government backbencher has expressed concern that changing the packaging of cigarettes will do little to cut the number of smokers. Fine Gael TD Olivia Mitchell said no smoker was deterred by how cigarettes were packaged.

“If they were wrapped in a dirty rag, not alone would a smoker smoke them but the tragedy is that he or she would grow to love the dirty rag, such is the nature of addiction.” She added: “Packaging just does not figure when it comes to addiction.”

Ms Mitchell, a former heavy smoker, said: “That’s why heroin addicts use dirty needles and employ desperate measures in order to get their fix. That’s why methadone users turn up every day to get methadone. It doesn’t matter a hoot to them whether it’s in a bottle or a packet. They will still turn up because of their addiction. Packaging just does not figure when it comes to addiction.

“We are talking about a packet that already contains a death threat and it is difficult to see how it could become more threatening or less attractive than is the case already”.

The Dublin South TD was speaking during the ongoing Dáil debate on the Public Health (Standard Packaging of Tobacco) Bill, which has already been passed by the Seanad. The legislation will change tobacco product packaging to display graphic pictures of diseases caused by smoking as well as warnings such as “smoking kills”. These will cover up to 65 per cent of the packet, which will limit displays of the brand name to a line of small print at the top of the cigarette pack.

Ms Mitchell said she supported efforts by Minister for Health James Reilly to stamp out smoking and if it stopped even a few people, those efforts would have been worthwhile. However since cigarettes were no longer on display, the only people who came into contact with cigarette packets were those who already smoked. For young people, "the only visual enticement to smoking comes from observing either family members or their peers".

Everybody who smoked wanted to give up. “No person acting rationally wants to indulge in a habit they know will probably kill them and it will certainly do damage to the people around them whom they love, yet in many cases they find it almost impossible to give up.”

Ms Mitchell also said it was “folly to believe that increasing the price of cigarettes will somehow stop smokers smoking. One will never price an addict out of the market.” Smoking was a no-no and smokers were seen as miscreants. The price had been increased 10-fold since 2004 but the reduction in the numbers smoking was negligible.

Independent TD Finian McGrath said smokers were the people always “hammered” with punitive legislation, compared to those with other addictions. He acknowledged smoking was “not good for your health, but neither is excessive eating or binge drinking, but it always seems to be the smokers who get hammered, even though we contribute €1.2 billion in taxes to the State each year”.

He also warned that the State faced huge legal costs with expected litigation from the tobacco industry once the legislation was implemented.

The debate continues.