The Wire

A tobacco giant has today launched a national campaign against the Federal government’s push for plain cigarette packaging. Every year fifteen thousand Australians die from smoking related disease. If passed, the law will force companies to sell cigarettes in standard packets without fancy logos, taking the glamour out of the habit. Graphic health warnings will remain and the casing will be olive green – the colour that researchers say smokers find least attractive. The British American Tobacco company has hit back at the government, by threatening to slash prices to fight the predicted drop in sales.