LONDON -- As Great Britain enters its second month of implementing a “plain packaging” rule on all cigarettes sold, critics say an unintended consequence may be the rise in black-market activity, according to The Economist.
The rule, which went into effect May 20, says cigarettes can only be sold in cube-shaped packages of a single color, with a flip top rather than hinged lid and all lettering in a uniform font. It’s a rule that emerged out of Australia in 2012 and caught on in France, Ireland and now the United Kingdom. Lawmakers have yet to enact similar legislation in the United States.
Opponents say the rule can make contraband product difficult to spot, making selling of those illegal cigarettes easier, the news source said.
But to substantiate any claims as to the growth of black-market trade, researchers will need to track the effects of the new rule. Editors at the London-based Economist asked Hanna Ross, principal research officer at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, to offer ideas …