Smoking: Cigarette Packaging — Question

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 3:00 pm on 16 July 2013.

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Photo of Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Crossbench 3:00, 16 July 2013

I declare my interest as president-elect of the BMA. As 200,000 11 to 15 year- olds start smoking each year in the UK, what are the criteria and time frames that the Government will use to judge the outcomes of standardised packaging in Australia? The high mortality rate does not appear until about 25 years after these youngsters start smoking. As this is fundamentally a child protection issue, how will the Government now prevent vulnerable children—particularly those in local authority care—from starting smoking, given that the Department of Health’s own systematic review showed that current packs are particularly attractive to youngsters and that they mislead them into thinking that some brands are less harmful than others?