THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Tobacco companies will be forced to drop logos and branding from cigarette packs in Australia in an attempt to make smoking less glamorous.As part of the toughest antismoking legislation in the world, which is expected to go before parliament later this year, all packets would be the same colour – an ugly olive green – and will come plastered with graphic health warnings including pictures of diseased eyes, rotting teeth and young children in hospital.
The product's name would appear on the front of the pack in a standard font size and style.
The move is intended to reduce the smoking rate in Australia to 10 per cent in less than 10 years but has been strongly opposed by the tobacco lobby, which has vowed to mount a legal challenge against the proposed laws.
British American Tobacco Australia have warned that the legislation would infringe international trademark and intellectual property laws.
"The new packs have been designed to have the lowest appeal to smokers and to make clear the terrible effects that smoking can have on your health," said Nicola Roxon, the health minister.
"The government knows that big tobacco companies are going to fight this," she said. » | Bonnie Malkin, Sydney | Thursday, April 07, 2011
Here we go again! Why don’t legislators leave people alone, and use education and infomercials to keep informing people of the dangers of smoking, and leave it at that? Why do innocent people have to be subjected to this barrage of attacks on their rights to use a legal substance.
I would be the last person in the world to advocate that anyone smoke. I have myself successfully given up the habit. But some people still enjoy smoking. Let them smoke, for goodness’ sake. Many people have far worse habits than smoking a few cigarettes. Even Prince Harry enjoys a ciggy!
I listened to an interesting story the other day: A mother told me that young people today, because cigarettes have been made so expensive, have taken to rolling their own and lacing the tobacco with illegal substances! If this is the case, aren’t we in danger of trying to stub out one bad habit and replacing it with another habit far worse? We all know about the ‘law of unintended consequences’!
Now regarding this proposal to use ugly cigarette packets Down Under... I predict that it will fail to have the desired result of reducing smoking. What could well happen is this: People could return to the old habit of taking their cigarettes out of the ugly packets and placing them in attractive cigarette cases, as people so often used to do in years gone by. I’d be willing to wager that people will rediscover the fashion. If I were still a smoker, and if I lived in Australia and were confronted with such hideous cigarette packs, I’d find a glamorous cigarette case to fill!
Some enterprising company will no doubt start to market such cases. If this happens, the law will become meaningless. – © Mark
