Calls for Australia to Adopt Plain Package for Vapes

Anti-vape advocates are calling for e-cigarette packaging to be under the same rules as tobacco packing, including warnings that include the dangers involved with using the product.

In December 2012, Australia became the first country to require tobacco companies to sell their products in drab olive-brown boxes stripped of branding but featuring large pictures of smoking-related diseases.

Tobacco companies challenged the move in various courts, saying it not only breached trademark laws and intellectual property rights but would also boost black market sales. Libertarians characterized plain packaging as a “nanny state” measure.

Now, 20 countries, including the U.K., Turkey, France, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands and Ukraine, have brought in their own versions of plain packaging legislation.

Mal Washer, told 6PR Mornings that what worked best in the past was by making smoking anti-social.

“You looked like a half wit if you smoked, and that did more than any medical advice as people tend to ignore that but vaping has now become a big problem,”

“The biggest thing in my opinion is making vaping anti-social and to make people realize this product is dangerous.”