Aiming to Reduce the Number of Young Smokers

The UK government proposed a plan for standardized cigarette packaging in 2011 and held a public consultation in 2012. However, it later appeared to cool on the plan, prompting accusations that the government had "bowed to pressure and influence from the tobacco industry."

Even so, the UK government later announced that it would once again review the public health benefits of the plan. That review concluded last year that standardized cigarette packaging would likely reduce, to some extent, the number of young people starting to smoke.

According to reports, more than 600 young people aged 11 to 15 start smoking every day in the UK, equivalent to about 200,000 a year. If that figure could be reduced by 2% annually, it would mean 4,000 fewer people starting to smoke.