To fight the growing menace of tobacco, the government of Australia was working on the policy of plain packaging. The government is of the opinion that as cigarettes and tobacco are considered a part of glamorous lifestyle, therefore plain packaging will discourage people to buy them.
It is for the first time when a government of a country has taken such a stern step in controlling the sale of tobacco in its country. It has come to light that the colorful packets of cigarettes will be replaced by dull, dark olive packs carrying health warnings. Moreover, the package won’t be carrying any logo but will be carrying brands name in miniature letters.
On August 15 the Australian High Court decreed that the federal government is granted a right to demand that cigarettes are sold in plain packaging beginning with December, according to a local media.
In fact plain packaging is packaging created under the authority of the government to be as unappealing as possible. The larger half of plain packaging consists of graphic health warnings and a standardized olive color at a little background. There are no logos, but name of brand is presented only in a small, standardized font.
Australia's new plain packaging for cigarettes – which becomes mandatory from Saturday - have been branded "disgusting" by smokers who say they make the cigarettes taste worse.
The new packets, which are blank aside from gruesome health warnings, have been filling shelves for the past two months as part of the toughest anti-tobacco measures in the world.
Despite legal battles and claims of "dirty tricks" by tobacco companies, all cigarettes in Australia must now be sold in drab olive packets featuring macabre images of sick babies, dying cancer sufferers and diseased feet, eyeballs and lungs. Smokers' advice groups have reported being inundated with calls from angry smokers who say their cigarettes now taste "pathetic" and "sickening".
Joe Xia, who owns a busy convenience store just outside Sydney's Chinatown, said the packets are "disgusting" and have been annoying customers who dislike the new warnings.
"People still smoke – now they also complain," he told the Daily Telegraph.
"Nothing will stop them from smoking. But it is hard at night-time. People come from the pub and they see these packets and they get irritated."
Still, the plain cigarettes packaging is practiced only in Australia so far but it will spread all over the world. On our website you can buy brand cigarettes as you were used to. The majority of our cigarettes are shipped from Europe.
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