THE recent proposal by the UK Government to legislate to force cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging would appear to introduce an interesting principle into the law of the land.
If cigarettes can be forced into plain packaging because they are potentially damaging to health, the same principle must surely apply to other products. Alcohol must quickly follow, as being clearly potentially dangerous to physical and mental health. Then there will be a long queue of high-fat, high-sugar, high-salt and other products waiting their turn.
While legislators and the anti-smoking lobby may be smiling smugly over their achievements, members of the advertising and marketing industries are, presumably, shaking in their shoes. Most sensible people can only resort to having a good laugh.
R Piggot,
197 Byres Road, Glasgow.
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