Speaker 1: Already and this is the Daily This is the Daily OS. Oh,
Speaker 1: now it makes sense. Good morning and welcome to the
Speaker 1: Daily OS. It's Wednesday, the second of April. I'm Emma Gillespie.
Speaker 2: I'm Zara Zeidler.
Speaker 1: This week Australia became the second country in the world
Speaker 1: to mandate health warnings on individual cigarette sticks. The change
Speaker 1: is a part of several new tobacco control measures, which
Speaker 1: we're going to take you through in more detail in
Speaker 1: today's Deep Dive.
Speaker 2: Now, m we have spoken many times and written many
Speaker 2: times about vaping. As of late, it's the new thing
Speaker 2: that we know is particularly pertinent when it comes to
Speaker 2: young people. But as a result, I do feel like,
Speaker 2: certainly in the media and perhaps at society at large,
Speaker 2: we have stopped talking about cigarettes as much, perhaps as
Speaker 2: we have as vabes. Can you just give us, I guess,
Speaker 2: a lay of the land as to how popular smoking
Speaker 2: still is, because I think there is a bit of
Speaker 2: a misconception there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, and I think we're kind of seeing that
Speaker 1: reflected in current strategies from the government about cracking down
Speaker 1: on the illicit tobacco market, the black market there with cigarettes.
Speaker 1: But in terms of what we know definitively about the
Speaker 1: smoking rate in Australia. It's more than halved since two
Speaker 1: thousand and one, so a lot of progress has been made.
Speaker 1: Government data shows us though that eight point three percent
Speaker 1: of Australians over the age of fourteen smoked tobacco cigarettes daily. Now.
Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety one that figure was twenty four percent. So,
Speaker 1: as I said, a lot of progress has been made,
Speaker 1: but that's still eight point three percent of Australians.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: There has been a global decline in tobacco usage around
Speaker 1: the world. This is not a unique trend in Australia,
Speaker 1: but we are here in Australia actually exceeding global targets.
Speaker 1: So the Weld Health Organization set this goal for countries
Speaker 1: around the world to reduce their tobacco usage by thirty
Speaker 1: percent between twenty twelve and twenty twenty five. Now, in
Speaker 1: an update from the WHO last year, Australia was expected
Speaker 1: to exceed that target and reach a thirty five percent
Speaker 1: national decrease by this year. A caveat here, and I
Speaker 1: guess before we go any further, is that these WHO
Speaker 1: figures include traditional cigarettes and heated tobacco products, but not
Speaker 1: vapes that contain nicotine only, and that eight point three
Speaker 1: percent of Australians who smoke daily. That figure is referring
Speaker 1: to people who are smoking cigarettes tobacco cigarettes. So we
Speaker 1: do know that smoking rates have declined and that vaping
Speaker 1: rates have surged, but the latest kind of data on
Speaker 1: that precedes these strong anti vaping measures that we've seen
Speaker 1: rolled out in the last few years. So the kind
Speaker 1: of national survey that we look to for this information
Speaker 1: is called the National Household Drug Survey. It was last
Speaker 1: conducted in the twenty twenty two to twenty three financial year,
Speaker 1: and of course since then vaping rules have changed, and
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, there is maybe an anecdotal uptick in
Speaker 1: the rates of smoking amongst young people as a result
Speaker 1: of those reforms. So we'll be looking to the next
Speaker 1: survey to find out kind of more about that figure specifically.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but even here you've said eight percent of us
Speaker 2: is over the age of fourteen smoke daily. That is
Speaker 2: still while comparative to where it used to be smaller,
Speaker 2: it is still quite a significant portion of the community
Speaker 2: who are still smoking cigarettes, and that figure doesn't include vaping.
Speaker 2: What does the latest data tell us about the health
Speaker 2: outcomes for the smokers. We've learnt so much over the
Speaker 2: last you know, however, many decades exactly.
Speaker 1: So, even though there are less people smoking, the negative
Speaker 1: health outcomes caused by smoking are still very, very serious,
Speaker 1: and there are many health issues associated with smoking. A
Speaker 1: statement from the Department of Health last month actually said
Speaker 1: that long terms, smokers die ten years earlier than non smokers,
Speaker 1: and tobacco smoking remains one of the leading causes of
Speaker 1: preventable death and disability in Australia. So what we're kind
Speaker 1: of seeing rolled out this week in response to that
Speaker 1: are some new measures aimed at improving public health rates overall,
Speaker 1: aimed at reducing those preventable deaths, and part of that
Speaker 1: includes several new health warnings.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so this is what I really wanted to
Speaker 2: zero in on, because when we received this information, we
Speaker 2: weren't sure if it was April fools, just by nature
Speaker 2: of the day, when you're working in news and it's
Speaker 2: April first, you never quite know what you're meant to
Speaker 2: do with that. But no, it's not April Fools. From yesterday,
Speaker 2: we understand that individual cigarettes will have health warnings published
Speaker 2: onto them or printed onto them, and that is in
Speaker 2: addition to existing plane packaging laws and warnings that go
Speaker 2: on the outside of the packet. Yeah, I guess let's
Speaker 2: go from the outside in. Those plane packaging law have
Speaker 2: been in place for quite a while. Now, what do
Speaker 2: we know about their effectiveness? And then I want to
Speaker 2: go to this more recent news.
Speaker 1: Yes, so you would probably be very familiar with those
Speaker 1: quite graphic images on the packaging of cigarettes. Those warnings
Speaker 1: have been in place since December twenty twelve, things like
Speaker 1: messaging and images of a gangrenous foot which has a
Speaker 1: warning alongside it saying smoking causes vascular disease. Everyone has
Speaker 1: seen those pictures, and experts say that those warnings are effective,
Speaker 1: that they do work when it comes to increasing knowledge
Speaker 1: about the harms of smoking and preventing smoking uptake and
Speaker 1: encouraging smokers to quit. But what they have acknowledged is
Speaker 1: that their effectiveness decreases over time. So as we become
Speaker 1: more and more accustomed to seeing these images, they are
Speaker 1: less shocking, we become desensitized to them, and they are
Speaker 1: therefore less impactful. So it's hoped that a range of
Speaker 1: mandatory new tobacco health warnings are going to shift that
Speaker 1: sentiment again. And I'd smokers that education and also access
Speaker 1: to support services.
Speaker 2: Okay, so talk me through those changes then I mentioned
Speaker 2: one of them before.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So, as of the first of April yesterday, all
Speaker 1: cigarettes sold in Australia must have those individual warnings printed
Speaker 1: on them. As you mentioned under the changes, that includes
Speaker 1: eight different phrases. So each cigarette will have one of
Speaker 1: eight phrases that includes a phrase causes sixteen cancers and
Speaker 1: damages your lungs and damages your DNA on each cigarette. Now,
Speaker 1: according to the Department of Health, those warnings provide information
Speaker 1: to quote help people understand the consequences of smoking and
Speaker 1: encourage people to stop smoking or to not start at all.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you're going to answer this, but
Speaker 2: the logistics of this blows my mind.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: The idea of printing these tiny messages on these tiny cigarettes, yep.
Speaker 2: And then my brain immediately goes to does the message
Speaker 2: disappear when you start smoking? How does that actually work?
Speaker 1: No, it's a really good question, and I think we
Speaker 1: all had that question when reading this announcement. The warnings
Speaker 1: are actually printed on both sides of the cigarette filter,
Speaker 1: so it's the filter part of the cigarette that doesn't
Speaker 1: burn down. Rather than the paper, So these warnings are
Speaker 1: preserved on that filter on either side, you know, long
Speaker 1: after the cigarette has been smoked. And you know, even
Speaker 1: though this is a really interesting kind of reform, it's
Speaker 1: not the first time it's happened in the world. The
Speaker 1: government announced this legislation about a year ago and at
Speaker 1: the time there was no one else doing it. But
Speaker 1: since then Canada has actually rolled out its own very
Speaker 1: similar approach. There are phrases like quote poison in every
Speaker 1: puff and cigarettes cause cancer that appear near the filter
Speaker 1: of cigarettes sold there. The Canadian Cancer Society has said
Speaker 1: that those health warnings are there with every cigarette and
Speaker 1: every puff during every smoke break. They simply cannot be ignored.
Speaker 2: They said, I mean, even though there is one country,
Speaker 2: that's not a lot, there's not a lot of precedent here,
Speaker 2: and Australia has kind of led the way when it
Speaker 2: comes to tobacco reform, and clearly the same as being
Speaker 2: done here. You did mention though, that the individual warnings
Speaker 2: are not the only reform that took effect yesterday. What
Speaker 2: else was there?
Speaker 1: Yes So there are also ten new graphic health warnings
Speaker 1: for cigarette packaging. So the ones that we discussed before
Speaker 1: that were introduced originally in twenty twelve. They're going to
Speaker 1: get a bit of a refresh, so some new and
Speaker 1: different images and messaging. There's also going to be these
Speaker 1: new health promotion inserts inside the packets of the cigarettes,
Speaker 1: So there'll be ten new promotional inserts and they will
Speaker 1: include information on quitting and support services like Quitline. So
Speaker 1: I think what's really interesting about these is that, you know,
Speaker 1: rather than the shock factor maybe of the warnings and
Speaker 1: the images, these inserts are really focused on educating people
Speaker 1: about the benefits of quitting, the social benefits, the health benefits,
Speaker 1: and they provide advice and strategies to kind of help
Speaker 1: people quit and begin that journey with some resources and support.
Speaker 1: There is also a ban being rolled out on menthol cigarettes,
Speaker 1: and that's going to be a phased ban which started
Speaker 1: yesterday for.
Speaker 2: People who maybe aren't familiar with what a menthol cigarette is,
Speaker 2: what is it and why menthols.
Speaker 1: Yes, so this one is really about banning an ingredient
Speaker 1: that makes smoking taste better essentially, So.
Speaker 2: The same argument as vaping about the flavored vapes exactly.
Speaker 1: So mental cigarettes kind of have like a menthol bead
Speaker 1: near the filter that smokers crack and it sends this
Speaker 1: kind of cooling flavor through the cigarette product.
Speaker 2: And simply had no idea. That's what happened. Learn something
Speaker 2: new every day.
Speaker 1: It's really interesting. And it's funny you mentioned that the
Speaker 1: vaping flavors there, because the policy that has informed this
Speaker 1: kind of crackdown really ties into similar strategies that we've
Speaker 1: seen with vaping. So Health Minister Mark Butler launched a
Speaker 1: crackdown on flavored vapes, and as part of that he
Speaker 1: sort of described these products being marketed to young people specifically.
Speaker 1: And that's what we're seeing here. There's this crackdown on
Speaker 1: smoking products that taste good or that look different. There's
Speaker 1: this other standardized measure being rolled out about the size
Speaker 1: of cigarette sticks. So no more novelty pack sizes or
Speaker 1: no more long cigarettes.
Speaker 2: I was gonna say there was always I mean, I
Speaker 2: don't know if this was pop culture movies, I don't
Speaker 2: know what it is, but like the long, thin cigarette, yes,
Speaker 2: being thought of as classy exactly. Imagine this is all
Speaker 2: trying to crack down on repackaging something that no matter
Speaker 2: which way you look at it is still bad for you. Yep.
Speaker 1: So when he announced these new tobacco control measures. Mark
Speaker 1: Butler touched on exactly what you've just articulated, Zara. He said,
Speaker 1: quote big Tobacco has found these innovative ways to make
Speaker 1: their products seem almost cool, particularly appealing to young Australians
Speaker 1: and young smokers. He said. They use additives and flavors
Speaker 1: like menthol capsules, and they use shapes and colorings that
Speaker 1: are deliberately designed to make them look effective, like so
Speaker 1: called vogue that are popular on Instagram. Exactly what you've
Speaker 1: described there, Zara. Butler said that they use quote cool
Speaker 1: but ultimately misleading names and brands, things like Crush, Organic,
Speaker 1: Smooth or Vogues.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is really fascinating. And the fact that these
Speaker 2: moves have already been made when it comes to vaping
Speaker 2: and now we're kind of going back to the cigarettes
Speaker 2: to implement very similar reforms exactly in some ways shows
Speaker 2: I guess how intrinsically linked these two things are. And
Speaker 2: I do want to just finish by getting a sense
Speaker 2: of how health advocates in the country have responded to
Speaker 2: these reforms.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so they have been broadly welcomed by health advocates
Speaker 1: and groups like the Cancer Council, Cancer Council Australia, who
Speaker 1: described our country as world leaders in tobacco control. I
Speaker 1: think you know, we've seen that over the years with
Speaker 1: the packaging reforms, with the taxation on cigarettes. They said
Speaker 1: that the reforms are quote effective evidence based measures. Interestingly,
Speaker 1: Cancer Council also pointed out to the fact that the
Speaker 1: new warnings will include smoking harms that many people might
Speaker 1: not actually be aware of, such as diabetes, a rectile dysfunction,
Speaker 1: cervical cancer, DNA damage, the impact of secondhand smoke on
Speaker 1: children's lung capacity. And then we had the director of
Speaker 1: Quit the Support Service, Rachel Anderson. She said she hopes
Speaker 1: the changes will educate Australians quote acting as both a
Speaker 1: disincentive to smoke and a bridge to services such as
Speaker 1: quitline and quit dot org dot AU.
Speaker 2: I guess it's just a matter of time now to
Speaker 2: see whether these reforms are as effective as the government
Speaker 2: hopes that they will be. I do imagine though, that
Speaker 2: regardless of the fact that these measures came into force yesterday,
Speaker 2: there are likely still going to be products that don't
Speaker 2: conform to the new era rules. So what happens there.
Speaker 1: So this was actually announced, these reforms were announced late
Speaker 1: last year, and manufacturers and importers and retailers were kind
Speaker 1: of offered this transition period to give them time to
Speaker 1: sh shift to the new arrangements. So that transition period
Speaker 1: was largely seen as finishing up at the end of March. However,
Speaker 1: from now until the end of June, basically retailers are
Speaker 1: allowed to sell through stock that doesn't meet these new requirements,
Speaker 1: and then from the thirtieth of June the government will
Speaker 1: be more hardline on enforcing those regulations amongst retailers and
Speaker 1: there will be penalties and fines for retailers who are
Speaker 1: selling product that does not contain those new warnings.
Speaker 2: Am a really interesting topic. Thank you for explaining that.
Speaker 2: Thank you, and thank you for listening to another episode
Speaker 2: of The Daily Oas as always, we'll be vaculated today
Speaker 2: with the headlines. But until then, I have a great day.
Speaker 2: My name is Lily Madden and I'm a proud Arunda
Speaker 2: Bunjelung Calcuttin woman from Gadigl Country. The Daily os acknowledges
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