New graphic cigarette carton warnings

[AuntPeggy]

I was thinking about the new graphic warnings proposed for cigarette cartons when an ad came on TV for a thriller-killer movie. It got me to thinking of the possibility that the new warnings could cause an opposite effect in anyone who is enamored of these ghoulish movies. Perhaps the boxes will become collectibles and traded like baseball cards (which began life inside cigarette packages).

http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_16578888?source=rss

 

[Jay Honeck]

My wife, Mary, nailed this one:

"Time to invest in companies that make cigarette cases -- they're about to become popular again..."

 

[mantakos]

Seems a little over the top. Makes we wonder whether they didn't float a bunch of super crazy ones in the hopes of making their less crazy ones seem not so bad.
-harry

 

[Everskyward]

I don't think the warnings will stop children and teens. Smoking is obviously something adults don't want them to do...

 

[RJM62]

Frankly, I think the last thing the government wants to do right now is discourage people from smoking. Cigarette taxes are one of their few remaining, dependable revenue streams.

That being said, smokers will smoke until they are sick of it -- either literally or figuratively. Is there a smoker in the whole U.S. who isn't already aware of the warnings those images depict (smoking is addictive, bad for children, causes lung disease, etc.)? Are there even that many remaining who didn't know those things before they started smoking?

Okay, if the scary pictures scare off a couple of kids from smoking, all fine and good. But if the government were serious about attacking smoking, they'd either just outlaw it, as they've done to other plants that people like to burn and inhale; or else they'd provide heavily-subsidized smoking cessation assistance. Inasmuch as they've done neither, I have no reason to suspect that they're all that interested in discouraging it. I think they care more about the tax revenue than anything else, quite frankly.

-Rich

 

[Matthew]

Back in the day all us kids in driver's ed had to sit through all those movies showing the results of fatal accidents. I can't say if they did any good or not.

I think these ads will have the same effect.

 

[wsuffa]

I saw somewhere that kids are already turning them into trading cards. "I'll give you one Ms. Yuck for my Mr. Black Lung"

 

[AuntPeggy]

I saw somewhere that kids are already turning them into trading cards. "I'll give you one Ms. Yuck for my Mr. Black Lung"

That's what came to my mind immediately when I first saw them.

 

[ScottM]

I saw somewhere that kids are already turning them into trading cards. "I'll give you one Ms. Yuck for my Mr. Black Lung"

How can that be? These designs were just unveiled this week and the cigarette companies have until 2012 to implement them. And that would be only if this proposal is approved. That approval is not expected until mid-2011. It would seem that no one actually has them on their packaging yet.

 

[AuntPeggy]

How can that be? These designs were just unveiled this week and the cigarette companies have until 2012 to implement them. And that would be only if this proposal is approved. That approval is not expected until mid-2011. It would seem that no one actually has them on their packaging yet.

There is some experience in other nations...

But 39 other countries have gone well beyond such brief warnings and now require large, graphic depictions of smoking's effects. With Wednesday's announcement, the United States edged a step closer to joining those nations' efforts to reduce the centuries-long epidemic of tobacco-related deaths.

 

[EppyGA]

I don't know whether this will help or not. I do not smoke nor have I ever smoked. I do my best to get those close to me to stop if they are smokers. There was a guy at work that I did several trade shows with and he was a heavy smoker. You'd see him out in the smokers area quite frequently. He died last year from lung cancer. I told him on many occasions that he really needed to stop and he'd say "Yeah I know". Well he's stopped now.

Another friend at work that I had contact with died last year also. He was a smoker too. I always hate that these folks probably didn't need to die that young.

The government has built themselves a double edge sword. They seem to love the tax revenue they get (not sure what kind of percentages it means to a state) yet want people to stop.

 

[Doggtyred]

In healthcare, we quantify smoking with a value called pack-years. Its your years of smoking x average pack a day useage.

I took care of my first patient with a 100 pack-year history the other day.

He was on a ventilator. I'm guessing if he survives his hospitalization (he had a bad reaction to chemo for his lung cancer) he wont get off the vent without at least a trach hole in his throat.. maybe a home ventilator.