Shocking pictures of throat cancer and rotting teeth are to appear on cigarette packets from today in England will illustrate the health risks of smoking. Among the other images smokers will see are rotting lungs, a corpse in a morgue and a body cut open during surgery.
According to the dailymail.co.uk, the photos will appear on the back of packets accompanied by a written health warning. The images replace the previous warnings introduced in January 2003, although the messages ‘Smoking kills’ and ‘Smoking seriously harms you and others around you’ will continue to appear on the front of packets.
Canada was the first country to introduce picture warnings in 2001.Research a year later found 31 per cent of ex-smokers said the images had motivated them to quit the habit while 27 per cent said they had helped them to remain non-smokers, according to the Department of Health.
Graphic images are now used on tobacco products sold in Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore, Venezuela, Thailand and Uruguay.
———Personal note———
In my opinion we don’t have smoking problem here in Dominica, but there are some chronic– smokers going around who have no disregard to other peoples health and the effects secondary hand smoking can have on non-smokers health. If it takes these graphic images to stop people from engaging in this disgusting habit the better. I could never understand this – if cigarettes are dangerous why governments don’t make them illegal to buy? Can someone help me answer this question – please!
That’s easy - Money, Money, Money.
The image of the lungs is great. My oldest friend is a doctor. He entered med school as a smoker and on examining the first lungs of cadavers he got to compare the healthy lungs of a non-smoking man who died of natural causes at age 80 to the lungs of a 25-year old smoker killed in a crash. The former were nice and pink, the latter all brown and wasted. My friend quit smoking on the spot.
I think that education, not prohibition, will curtail smoking. High taxes on smokes (or booze, etc.) only encourages smuggling and creates profits for the underworld and even terrorists. So does prohibition. And it is not good to have government revenue depend on “sin taxes”. With regard to tobacco, drugs, alcohol, tattoos, sexual practices, overeating, and proper diet, people must have knowledge and respect their bodies.
It is interesting to see how certain drugs and livestyles have been spread around the world. For example, tea, coffee and tobacco consumption spread to Europe after Europeans saw the use of those products in “exotic” lands and became fascinated. Since then, we have seen some abuse and commercialization the world over, but with more research, we have come to realize the evils of extensive use of some of these products. Many decades ago, smoking was seen as the hip thing and the cigarette companies made their fortunes, before it became shunned by society. Now, the coffee craze has taken over America, learning from practices in Europe and now fueled by brands such as Starbucks. Will we see a decline in use of coffee for health reasons similiarly to cigarettes? Maybe not, but it’s amazing to see how some cultural practices have been spread to other countries and the wider society and become the hip thing! We can see similar trends in other habits like tattoos, consumption of transfat in fast food products etc. Sometimes we need to be shocked from the false sense of well being we get from those substances before dumping a bad habit. Unfortunately it sometimes takes years before that sinks in. With the advent of information technology however, the conversion process will likely be much shorter!
pete
By the way Chris, there are many legal acts and and potentially dangerous substances in society that are allowed simply because taking them away would be seen as restricting human rights. Yes, it may be a crime or dishonor to kill oneself in some societies but not a crime or dishonor to use what could turn to be lethal: drugs, alcohol, and lifestyle habits (including how cars are driven or foods consumed). Isn’t it amazing? According to wikipedia: “Most Western and some Asian religions—the Abrahamic religions, Hinduism—consider suicide a dishonorable act; in the West it was regarded as a serious crime and an offense towards God due to religious belief in the sanctity of life.” We need to think more about the true meaning of sanctity as we kill ourselves softly. However, we can’t be too draconian, though it could save lives! We know from experience that some of these measures do not even work (take prohibition for example). We can’t make much of these things illegal, as in moderation, there can be some social and utilitarian value to them and even health benefits. Education and responsibility is the key it seems.