A series of 14 peer reviewed research papers have found that plain cigarette packaging in Australia has been a success as it has reduced the appeal of smoking among adolescents and also prompted smokers to quit.
The findings of the papers were presented at the World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Abu Dhabi by the Cancer Council Victoria and have been published in the British Medical Journal Tobacco Control.
The findings were aimed at inspecting the different aspects of the implementation of the law and its effect on young adolescents as well as smokers.
Researchers who worked on the papers claimed that there was no evidence of an increase in the consumption of illicit cigarettes and smokers were actually paying attention to the graphic health warnings.
They also claimed that in fact, children aged between 12 and 17, found standardised packaging less appealing.
Cancer Council Victoria's Melanie Wakefield, whose team led the evaluation said: "These papers provide the first comprehensive set of results of real world plain packaging and they are pointing very strongly to success in achieving the legislation's aims.
"These results should give confidence to countries considering plain packaging that plain packs not only reduce appeal of tobacco products and increase the effectiveness of health warnings but also diminish the tobacco industry's ability to use packs to mislead consumers about the harms of smoking."
The Guardian reported that according to the quarterly figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released on 12 March, there had been a dip of nearly 3% in tobacco consumption which has resulted into an annual fall of 12.2% from December 2013 to December 2014.
Study co-leader Dr Michelle said: "The tobacco industry has been very vocal in its concerns that plain packaging would result in a collapse in prices and increased use of illicit tobacco - these studies found no evidence of either of these effects, and despite an increase in use of value brands, a clear indication of increased prices across the board."
Australia is the first country to introduce plain packaging through its 2011 Tobacco Plain Packaging Act. Following the positive effects of the law in Australia, Ireland also introduced a similar law recently.
