The government actions on stopping smoking varies across the world. Some governments do not have any campaigns against tobacco, while others such as Australia and Canada have aggressive campaigns against tobacco. There is a generic formula that most governments apply in some way, which include:
- Increasing the price of tobacco and taxing the product heavily; taxing tobacco makes it less affordable and harder for minors to purchase.
- Requiring some portion of the pack to be covered with a visual warning and/or a text describing the negative effects of tobacco smoking; in some countries, 50% of the cigarette pack is covered with warnings while in some there are no warnings.
- Creating advertising campaigns (via TV, radio, and billboards) promoting smokers to stop smoking and advertising the damaging effects of tobacco smoking.
- Creating youth campaigns against smoking; encouraging youth to stay smoke-free.
- Creating campaigns that offer awards for quitting smoking
- Banning commercials for tobacco products
- Hiding the display of tobacco products in stores; in Canada, all tobacco products must be covered and hidden from plain sight.
- Forcing all cigarette packages to carry the same format
