In a twisted turn of events, Australia’s tough anti-smoking law that was passed a year ago appears to have done more harm than good. Reports show that tobacco sales increased with 0.5 percent – after being on a continual drop for several years.

For the past year, cigarette brands in Australia were forced to let go of their own packaging and adopt a generic dark brown packets with health warnings and disturbing pictures of diseased lungs. The attempt to discourage the population from smoking was enacted by the Labor government.

The measure was designed to target teenagers and young people, arguing that allowing cigarette packs to use bright colors was sending an encouraging sign for young people to take on smoking. Before the law was passed, tobacco companies had unsuccessfully sued the government over the highly contested measure, trying to keep their branding visible.

Read the article “Plain Packaging: Australia’s Anti-Smoking Campaign Backfires” on utahpeoplespost.com.