Legal smokescreen

Graphic anti smoking advertising is part and parcel of everyday life here in Australia.

This is obviously not the case in America where big tobacco companies have filed suit against the New York City anti-smoking campaign.

The tobacco companies claim the images of cancer ravaged lungs, a rotten tooth and a stroke affected brain violate the First Amendment.

The lawsuit filed last week claims that the ads "do not describe the risks of smoking in purely factual terms".

Now I'm no expert on the First Ammendment or the accuracy of the images used in the ad but I'd have thought they were pretty representative of what can eventually happen to you if you smoke.