Australia's new plain tobacco packaging law seems to have been implemented just in the nick of time to persuade smokers to come up with a healthier New Year 2013 resolution after having been exposed to the vivid graphic images of the potential effects of smoking to one's health.

Luke Atkin, spokesman of Quit Victoria, said the images of a cancerous tongue, a skeletal brain as well as a gangrenous toe, among others, have made smokers think of quitting smoking, unless become one with those types of illnesses .

Australia's new plain tobacco packaging law, which took effect on Dec 1, called for cigarette manufacturers to not only package their products in olive-brown paper, but also carry as well large images of the effects of smoking to one's health.

Mr Atkin told Sky News a large number of smokers have approached the organisation telling them trying to light a cigarette and then seeing devastating health effects of smoking has been hard. The smokers eventually just do not light a stick at all, Mr Atkin said.

Some smokers who called the Quitline hotline, which according to Mr Atkin experienced a surge in the number of callers after Dec 1, intimated the new plain tobacco packaging law served as the push for them to finally consider quitting the unhealthy habit.

"Package warnings are a highly cost-effective means to increase awareness of the health effects and to reduce the use of tobacco. A picture says a thousand words. Pictures can convey a message with far more impact than a text-only message," Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society, earlier said.

"Plain packaging would curb the industry's use of the package as a promotional vehicle, would increase the effectiveness of package warnings, would curb package deception, and would decrease tobacco use."

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