Program Manager Roberto Almeida addresses the Hastings Prince Edward Board of Health, September 7, 2016. (Photo: Mary Thomas/Quinte News)
The Hastings and Prince Edward health unit is throwing its weight behind plain packaging for cigarettes to cut down on smoking.
Program manager Roberto Almeida reminded the board that smoking is the number one cause of preventable deaths and tobacco companies depend on packaging to market cigarettes.
Wearing a shirt touting plain packaging, Almeida said the plain packaging of cigarettes program, aimed at cutting into that marketing tool, is on the way.
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Almeida says tobacco companies call this a “dark market” since it takes away colourful packaging or slim cigarettes aimed at women.
Australia, France, the U.K. and Ireland already have plain cigarette packaging in place.
The number of smokers in Australia has dropped from 20% to 15% since the new drab brown packaging was put in place nearly two years ago.
Almeida says 5.4 million Canadians still smoke.
