Government’s Latest Weapon Against Smoking
The government has found its most recent weapon in its battle against smoking. Olive Green, the color that has been found out to be most unattractive for smokers, will be used in the new cigarette packing.
Today, grotesque pictures of the ill-effects of smoking can already be seen in cigarette packs. This will even be strengthened as these pictures will cover a bigger part of the packs with 90 per cent on the back and 75 per cent on the front.
If the proposal to use the olive green color in cigarette packing will be passed into law, all cigarette packs sold in Australia will have the said color. The brand names will be printed in uniform font and size and will become as discrete as possible.
With this, Australia will become the first country to ever ban logos and brand names. Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, says that she desires to take away whatever remaining glamour the cigarette has. She further said that 150,000 people in Australia die of smoke-related diseases each year.
Big Tobacco has done steps in order to combat the said proposal. It has released $A5 million to the Alliance of Australian Retailers to fight the proposal. Big Tobacco further calls on all smokers who have been hit by these hefty taxes that aim to curb smoking to lobby MPs. The company says that it is selling a legal product and that this product should carry its brand name. It further believes that the proposal will infringe international trademark and intellectual property laws.
The government stands that cigarettes are a killer and should be regulated.
72 per cent of Australian men were smokers while 26 per cent of women also smoked in 1972. In 2007, those figures dropped to 21 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively.
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/
