Graphic Images for Cigarette Packs Revealed.

Sunshine_Girlie
Sunshine_Girlie Posts: 618 Member
in Chit-Chat
Just signed online and ran across this article about the new cigarette warning labels. Have you had a chance to check it out?

http://beta.news.yahoo.com/fda-unveils-graphic-images-cigarette-packs-130408193.html

Do you think this will really encourage smokers to stop smoking or do you think the FDA is wasting their time? I know quite a few people who have tried to stop, but they can't. It doesn't matter if their children beg them to, they just can't kick it. I know it breaks their hearts, but it's an addiction and not as easy for some people. I can't say that I know for experience, but just from the people I know who are smokers, they have tried pills, patches, hypnosis, and none seem to work. Who knows. Maybe this will be what it takes.
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Replies

  • binary_jester
    binary_jester Posts: 3,311 Member
    Just signed online and ran across this article about the new cigarette warning labels. Have you had a chance to check it out?

    http://beta.news.yahoo.com/fda-unveils-graphic-images-cigarette-packs-130408193.html

    Do you think this will really encourage smokers to stop smoking or do you think they're FDA is wasting their time? I know quite a few people who have tried to stop, but they can't. It doesn't matter if their children beg them to, they just can't kick it. I know it breaks their hearts, but it's an addiction and not as easy for some people. I can't say that I know for experience, but just from the people I know who are smokers, they have tried pills, patches, hypnosis, and none seem to work. Who knows. Maybe this will be what it takes.
    The govt tells people they need to stop smoking, but hope they don't because the way we tax cigarettes nearly funds the federal and state governments.
  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 MFP Moderator
    Roughly half the package here in Canada is graphic labels, and well... they "work" in that people will refuse certain packages as they don't want to look at the diseased heart or whatnot, but no they still buy the pack with the bar chart instead etc.
  • AngieM76
    AngieM76 Posts: 622 Member
    As a smoker, I think its a waste of money and time. Unless someone wants to quit, these pictures wont help....because every smoker knows the risks of smoking and most I am sure have seen pics similar to this and they are still smoking.
  • cryssybaby77
    cryssybaby77 Posts: 22 Member
    People who are addicted are not going to just drop the digusting habit. I hope though it will stop young kids from thinking its cool and start lighting up.
    I quit 11 years ago and I enjoy not smelling bad and the nasty taste in my mouth.
  • _Aimée_
    _Aimée_ Posts: 190
    Pictures like this have been in the UK for quite a while. It didn't make any difference to me at all.
  • foxyforce
    foxyforce Posts: 3,078 Member
    smoking has declined in canada. but whether or not that is because of graphic images is up for debate. it could just be because people are educating themselves more. i don't really know.
  • noexcuses1218
    noexcuses1218 Posts: 332 Member
    Having smoked for 20 some-odd years, my experience was that I had to quit dozens of times before I finally set them down for good. As far as I'm concerned, every little bit helps. If these ads can push someone to just try to quit, it might get them just a few steps closer to kicking tobacco permanently. Given the health risks posed by cigarette smoking (my mother died of complications from lung cancer), I'm all for it.
  • foxyforce
    foxyforce Posts: 3,078 Member
    Having smoked for 20 some-odd years, my experience was that I had to quit dozens of times before I finally set them down for good. As far as I'm concerned, every little bit helps. If these ads can push someone to just try to quit, it might get them just a few steps closer to kicking tobacco permanently. Given the health risks posed by cigarette smoking (my mother died of complications from lung cancer), I'm all for it.

    it might potentially stop someone from starting as well!
  • aranchmom
    aranchmom Posts: 176 Member
    People who are addicted are not going to just drop the digusting habit. I hope though it will stop young kids from thinking its cool and start lighting up.
    I quit 11 years ago and I enjoy not smelling bad and the nasty taste in my mouth.
    Good for you! I am always impressed with anyone who kicks a hard-to-break habit, cause I know it must be a tough thing to do.
  • peizhi
    peizhi Posts: 15 Member
    I really do believe that people think these things won't happen to them. For example, I've been smoking for a while. But what I do is get a pack, take about three weeks to smoke it, then don't buy another one for a few months. You can imagine how invincible this makes me feel...so for a person like me, they would probably say, I'm not a chain smoker or anything, nothing nasty is gonna happen to ME!


    Btw, yes i am trying to kick the habit. It is almost impossible to exercise on a regular basis and smoke! And I really love exercise. I am NOT willing to give it up for anything!
  • jraps17
    jraps17 Posts: 179 Member
    I don't think they'll work, tabacco co. Are going go have to pay more for packaging and so the consumer will pay more. In that sense it may deter some maybe. If i were a smoker I would just get a cigarette case like the ones in classic movies when smoking was still cool and I would toss the nasty looking carton.
  • MelissaG36
    MelissaG36 Posts: 38
    I dont look at the pack! I enjoy smoking & its the only thing I havent had to give up so a new pack or a higher price isnt going to bother me. We are all going to die of something, might as well go peaceful.
  • Tinan76
    Tinan76 Posts: 56 Member
    They already do this in canada where cigarettes are a lor more expensive and plenty of canadians still smoke.
  • Kicktush
    Kicktush Posts: 16
    I think the FDA is smart enough to know that these package changes are unlikely to make a dramatic difference in current smokers' habits. I am assuming the real goal is to keep people from starting to smoke in the first place. Assuming people will quit something just because they know it's bad for them is silly. I think they'll deter some young people from starting and *hopefully* encourage some to quit.
  • WWhitaker
    WWhitaker Posts: 309
    I'm a smoker and I could care less what the package looked like. What really makes me mad is how the government, media, whoever it is, is picking on smokers. What about alcoholics? Are they going to start putting pictures of diseased livers, people puking, or other drunken events of the like on the bottles? What about people who abuse household products? Are they going to begin putting photos of obese people on fast food wrappers? Where will it stop? It's no wonder other countries think we're so damned stupid, because our own government finds it necessary to put PICTURES on cigarette packs!!! It's not a f*cking pop-up book. We know what the risks are.
  • heatherlh83
    heatherlh83 Posts: 76 Member
    I don't think the pictures will motivate established smokers to quit unless they're already trying. I do think they might scare kids and prevent a few of them from lighting up in the first place though. My son is younger, but if he was 12 or 13 and got his hands on a pack of cigarettes, I'd be happy to have those pics on the label.
  • Just1forMe
    Just1forMe Posts: 624 Member
    This won't help much. I agree with the guy at the end of the video who suggested that the government raise the taxes on cigarettes to worldwide levels or to the level they were taxed in the 1950's. This would bring in billions in tax revenues & save the same in health care costs when people who can't afford it quit. That would be MUCH smarter and more effective!
  • thumper44
    thumper44 Posts: 1,464 Member
    smoking has declined in canada. but whether or not that is because of graphic images is up for debate. it could just be because people are educating themselves more. i don't really know.

    We've had these graphic labels in Canada for few years now.
    EVERY DAY I was opening up a new pack. Of course I looked at those pictures. Did it stop me RIGHT THEN. nope.

    But day after day, looking at the pictures, looking at the heart, the lungs. the teeth, the limp d!ck, the babies.

    I was a 25 year smoker. I used to smoke 750 smokes a month.( I challenge any smoker to stop saying how much they have each day, and change it to how much they have each month)

    I quit 4 months ago. Did the graphic images cause me to quit. Not totally.
    Did they help me, influence and educate me more. Yeppers!
  • Sunshine_Girlie
    Sunshine_Girlie Posts: 618 Member
    I'm a smoker and I could care less what the package looked like. What really makes me mad is how the government, media, whoever it is, is picking on smokers. What about alcoholics? Are they going to start putting pictures of diseased livers, people puking, or other drunken events of the like on the bottles? What about people who abuse household products? Are they going to begin putting photos of obese people on fast food wrappers? Where will it stop? It's no wonder other countries think we're so damned stupid, because our own government finds it necessary to put PICTURES on cigarette packs!!! It's not a f*cking pop-up book. We know what the risks are.

    I was about to go there. I was thinking about people who are overweight and choose to eat foods that will just worsen their health, alcoholics, people on meth, and so on. What gets me to stay away from alcohol is when a drunk driver hit my parents. They're alive, yes, but it placed a scar on my mind that I will never forget. I have never seen my parents as hurt as they were then. The man who hit them said he wasn't even drunk, but it's enough to scare me. The situation even helped some of my friends put the bottle down.

    I think things that hit closer to home are what really make the difference.
  • Smittyinthesun2
    Smittyinthesun2 Posts: 161
    When will they start putting pictures of fat people on Pizza, hamburgers, soda and candy bars?

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