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| Plain packaging of cigarettes was introduced in Australia last December |
Posted by Neill Abayon
Selling cigarettes in unbranded packs seems to make tobacco less appealing and encourages smokers to quit, suggests a study.
The work comes from Australia - the first country to introduce plain packaging.
The BMJ Open research looked at the impact of the policy on 536 smokers in the state of Victoria.
The findings come days after ministers were criticised for putting on hold a plan to impose plain packs in England.
Downing Street denied the Tories' election strategist, Lynton Crosby, had been responsible for the delay to plain packaging.
Mr Crosby's links with alcohol and tobacco companies have been called into question by some MPs.
Defending the decision to delay, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the government wanted more time to see how the policy had worked in Australia.
The BMJ Open study gives an early indication of precisely this.
Researchers polled a sample of smokers during November 2012 when plain packs were already available in the run up to the country-wide introduction of the legislation.
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