Australia will become the first country to require cigarettes to be sold in uniform packages after its top court rejected a challenge from tobacco companies, setting a precedent for other nations to follow.
The Australian law requires cigarettes to be sold with no company logos and with the same font for all brands on a dark brown background. Graphic health warnings will cover 90 percent of the back of the packaging and 70 percent of the front.
Source: Australia’s Top Court Backs Plain-Pack Tobacco Laws
Here's the results of the first study out of Australia involving the effects of plain packaging upon smokers. It was conducted to determine whether smokers smoking from packs required under Australia's plain packaging law had different smoking beliefs and quitting thoughts, compared with those still smoking from branded packs.
ReplyDeleteWhile it's heartening to see plain packaging having a positive affect on convincing current adult smokers to quit smoking, the main outcome that I'm waiting to see, and what I believe is most-important about plain cigarette packaging, is its affect on preventing children from initially becoming smokers. Case will be closed when we have those results.