factual

. He accused the government of trying to use the labels to promote an "obvious anti-smoking agenda!"

The head of an anti-smoking group, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, called the decision "wrong on the science and wrong on the law."

About one-fifth of American adults smoke. The World Health Organization says tobacco kills nearly six million people worldwide each year. More than six hundred thousand of them are non-smokers who breathe other people's tobacco smoke.

In Australia, tobacco companies want to stop what would be the world's most

restrictive

laws on cigarette advertising. Cigarettes could be sold only in plain olive-green packages. Only the brand name and health warnings could appear.

The Senate passed the bill last week and sent it back to the lower house to approve minor

amendments.

The law is to

go into effect

in December of next year.

Tobacco companies say the

legislation

violates the Australian constitution. They say it would unjustly reduce the value of their brand names and trademarks. Health Minister Nicola Roxon says the government is ready for a legal fight.

NICOLA ROXON: "Every time a smoker -- twenty or thirty times a day -- takes a cigarette pack out of their pocket, we want to make sure that all that it's showing is the harm that can be caused from tobacco. This law will be a big win for families who have lost a loved one to tobacco-related illness."