Plain packaging for tobacco to reduce consumption

Some people argue that, in order to discourage tobacco consumption, tobacco products should be allowed only in plain packaging. But there are people who are of the view that a kind of packaging is not going to make any difference in tobacco use.

·         Discuss both the views and say what you feel of plain packaging for tobacco.

Tobacco, the Titan of killer substances, is taken for task in many ways. For some people, plain packaging will curtail its consumption, but for others such a move is not going to make any change. The substance of these views may be brought out through a discussion.

It is a fact that great many youngsters are attracted to tobacco products thanks to their attractive packaging. Naturally, if these substances are packed plain packages, the lure of it can be reduced to an extent leading to fall in consumption. Besides this, there is another possibility that people who carry plain packages of tobacco may not able to show off their ego by showing the type of stuff they are able to use. For example, many people take pride in the brand, price tag and origin of the tobacco product they may flaunt. All these possibilities notwithstanding, plain packaging has its own limitations in countless ways.

On the other hand, there is some substance in the view that plain packaging is not going to make fall in consumption. The thing is tobacco consumption is an addiction and the addicted will use tobacco variants no matter how they are packed. Apart from this, it would not be effective in the long run because users will get used to the type of products they use, and the shopkeepers will have their own ways to attract smokers. Obviously, the consumption graph of tobacco may stay as it is. Anyway, sometimes, a few youngsters may abstain from tobacco products.

Discussing both the views and concluding the discussion, what I feel is that it is not the kind of packaging that makes the difference in consumption, rather how people are sensitized towards the hazards to tobacco products. To me, plain packing is a shoddy idea.