New warning labels for cigs

[Brad Johnson]

I think by the time most of us turn 18, there has been some direct exposure of some sort of person who has been adversely been affected by smoking. People still aren't quitting and new smokers are starting up all the time.



Oddly enough, if there's a poor area, what kind of shops are prevalent? Discount tobacco, liquor stores, check cashers, and tattoo parlors.

But they're there by choice.

 

[Brad Johnson]

soviet canuckistan....i realize it's a wide brush,but it's a huge problem.....it's difficult to grasp until you've seen it first hand...it's total nanny state gone nuts.....depends on your definition of poverty.....despite the bs you see on tv from the bleeding hearts people are not dying in the streets......jeez,you don't even have to pay to get on a bus here if you don't feel like it...what poverty is and how people view it is two different things....

Like I said, I was referring to the US. I was asking the question of someone who lives in the US. I don't know what goes on in Canada... maybe voluntarily poor people are rampant there. Too.

 

[Jim Campbell]

Like I said, I was referring to the US. I was asking the question of someone who lives in the US. I don't know what goes on in Canada... maybe voluntarily poor people are rampant there. Too.

i just thought you might find the different mindsets of the 2 interesting.....maybe voluntary is the wrong word......but there definitely is a propensity for a lot of folks to sit back and accept the handouts,and make excuses while americans seem to lean more toward self reliance

 

[spade2you]

But they're there by choice.

Unfortunately, it reflects on not making good decisions..........

 

[jrthebassguy]

So you consider poverty to be a choice?

There's a saying - "Broke is temporary. Poor is eternal."


Some people are born into horrible circumstances. And for those, breaking the poverty line can be a very uphill battle. But, like Munji's story attributes - those with the strong enough of a desire to break it, will.

 

[ADbassman]

If education, particularly tough education like this is wrong, what's a better way to address this?

Banning smoking if it's really that big of a deal.

I fail to see how anyone can think that breathing smoke is good for them. That's instinctual. If something is burning, you usually don't breathe the smoke coming from it.

Smokers know this, yet continue to smoke because of other perceived or actual benefits. People are going to smoke regardless of what you put on the packaging. Clearly they do. Why bother?

 

[ADbassman]

This is about as ridiculous an argument as I could imagine. The "product" is an addictive, lethal poison. Should they remove the warning labels from all poisons, then? ... demonizing ... sheesh

Warning labels are one thing. Obscene images of effects of prolonged use are another. Most people know not to drink bleach, yet some idiot out there may not. Sure, companies put warning labels on the packing, but do they put a picture of a burned and bloated corpse on the bottle? No.

 

[Simo98]

Clearly it worked or they wouldn't have continued to do it. Why do you think negative images won't act as a deterrent?

Im 18, born in 1992. By then smoking was already relatively shunned, and from primary school me and everyone else my age were taught the dangers of smoking. Shown pictures and blasted with anti-cigarette propaganda.

I KNOW cigarettes are dangerous. Even if they were perfectly healthy I would still "Know" it, as its what me and anyone else my age has being taught. Yet people my age and under still take up smoking every day of the week, even with the warning labels on. I believe the main reason they do it, is because they are not supposed to.

As far as I can tell, the warning labels are pretty much useless. Go ahead and stick them on, as it probably does serve as some minor deterrent, however you can only protect people from themselves so much. So long as they are 18+ to buy thats the best you can do really, kids who go out of their way to get them will get ahold of them regardless.

ROFLMAO! The "majesty" ...

I dunt ged it.

 

[Munjibunga]

I dunt ged it.

Cigarette packages have majesty?

 

[Simo98]

Cigarette packages have majesty?

Not all of them of course, but there are plenty of them (as well as cigars) with some very classy looking packaging.

Of course that is part of the idea. But sometimes you see them on the shelf and it just feels like a bit of a shame for them to be covered up.

 

[Deluge Of Sound]

There's a saying - "Broke is temporary. Poor is eternal."


Some people are born into horrible circumstances. And for those, breaking the poverty line can be a very uphill battle. But, like Munji's story attributes - those with the strong enough of a desire to break it, will.

The myth of Horatio Alger.

 

[totallyfrozen]

there's nothing wrong with the government looking out for the well-being of it's citizens by making consumers aware of the effects of a product. In fact, It's a good thing that consumers know about the facts of the things they're buying. It's when the government dictates what can and cannot be consumed that there's a problem.

I agree. The other side of it is that if the gov't DIDN'T warn the public about the dangers of tobacco, they'd get blamed for that. So it's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation for the gov't.

as for the ads, I think they'll probably work a good deal better than the warning labels they have now. When I smoked, it was quite easy to ignore the warning labels and force myself not to think about the consequences. I think it would have been alot harder for me if there was a picture of somebody falling apart on my pack of smokes. ...

I think the fact that you'd have to FORCE yourself to NOT think about the consequences is enough to make some people stop and think about it. It might be enough to get some people to never start smoking. It might even be enough to get some people to quit.

Of course, there are some people who will chose to smoke even if you showed them a 10 minute video of somebody dying of empysema...
But, a fool ignores warnings and instruction. Fools pay for their decisions the hard way. Of course, they still want pity and help when the end comes. There will always be fools.
I think the graphic warnings are a good idea anyway.

 

[totallyfrozen]

Meh, they practically helped sales here, as people started collecting them like trading cards.

That's just sick. :scowl:

 

[emor]

As far as I can tell, the warning labels are pretty much useless.

but there are plenty of them (as well as cigars) with some very classy looking packaging.

If one can be attracted to "classy packaging," then doesn't it follow that one could be repelled by gruesome imagery?

 

[emor]

Im 18, born in 1992. By then smoking was already relatively shunned, and from primary school me and everyone else my age were taught the dangers of smoking. Shown pictures and blasted with anti-cigarette propaganda.

I KNOW cigarettes are dangerous. Even if they were perfectly healthy I would still "Know" it, as its what me and anyone else my age has being taught. Yet people my age and under still take up smoking every day of the week, even with the warning labels on. I believe the main reason they do it, is because they are not supposed to.

As far as I can tell, the warning labels are pretty much useless. Go ahead and stick them on, as it probably does serve as some minor deterrent, however you can only protect people from themselves so much. So long as they are 18+ to buy thats the best you can do really, kids who go out of their way to get them will get ahold of them regardless.

O.K., kids think that they're immortal.
The warning labels will probably have a bigger impact on older people who have some life experience. Of course, by that time, they're addicted.

 

[emor]

Warning labels are one thing. Obscene images of effects of prolonged use are another. Most people know not to drink bleach, yet some idiot out there may not. Sure, companies put warning labels on the packing, but do they put a picture of a burned and bloated corpse on the bottle? No.

Drinking bleach is not its intended use.

 

[DizzyExiled]

All the motivation I need.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Unfortunately, it reflects on not making good decisions..........

Why would setting up discount tobacco, liquor stores, check cashers, and tattoo parlors in those neighborhoods be bad decisions?

 

[Brad Johnson]

i just thought you might find the different mindsets of the 2 interesting.....maybe voluntary is the wrong word......but there definitely is a propensity for a lot of folks to sit back and accept the handouts,and make excuses while americans seem to lean more toward self reliance

Cool. I was questioning the other member as to just how prevalent the choice to be poor was here in the states. I know it's fun to get worked up about a minority welfare queen eating steak on food stamps and basically ignoring who the majority of poor people are and why they're in the boat they're in. For me the us vs. them mentality got old a loooong time ago. There's a third party involved and few seem even remotely bothered by that.

 

[sloasdaylight]

So you consider poverty to be a choice?

Actually yea I do in most circumstances. There are of course always those folks who hit on hard times, I'm pretty sure most of us here have at some point in our lives, but generational poverty is the result of people accepting that they're just going to be poor. I cannot, and do not, accept that as a legitimate outlook. In modern America, there are more than enough opportunities for people to get out if they're trying hard enough to do it.