It is time for legal action to recover health care costs from the tobacco industry
Australia’s 2011 precedent-setting plain packaging legislation1 reinforced the country’s reputation within the tobacco industry as “the darkest market in the world”.2 The country’s commitment to tobacco control, and a declining national smoking rate that is among the lowest in the world should not, however, mislead the public or policy makers into a mistaken belief that tobacco is done.
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Ross MacKenzie is supported by the National Cancer Institute, US National Institutes of Health, grant no. R01-CA091021.
No relevant disclosures.