CIGARETTES could cost more than $20 for a packet of 30 and come in plain wrapping if radical proposals now under consideration by the federal government are accepted.
The government is considering a cigarette tax hike and a ban on all remaining tobacco advertising and sponsorship in response to its yet-to-be-released Preventative Health Taskforce report.
The landmark report, now being examined by Health Minister Nicola Roxon, urges the government to slash smoking rates over the next decade to nine per cent, reducing the number of people aged 14 and over who smoke daily from three million to two million.
Under the changes, some of which were canvassed in a discussion paper released late last year, cigarette packets would be generic and plain, with larger graphic health warnings taking up about 90 per cent of the front and 100 per cent of the back.
Tobacco companies also face a blanket ban on all sponsorship, Internet sales, public relations activities and "corporate responsibility'' donations, Fairfax Newspapers say.
The plan has been strongly backed by anti-smoking organisations such as the Public Health Association, the Cancer Council and the National Heart Foundation, but has alarmed cigarette companies, which claim it could be unlawful.
(p.s. It's Australia, so it isn't Obama's fault. )
