To encourage people to quit and keep kids from starting, cigarette packs will now have pictures of the results of a lifetime of smoking. Shock value is the point. But will it work?
It might help with the kids. The adults? Not so much. There have been so much anti-smoking ads. A lot of us have seen that lovely commercial of the lady smoking through her trach hole. And I’m sure doctors, families, and friends have showed them the pictures of diseased lungs.
I don’t think these pictures would make smokers blink. People know what they’re signing up for. It might help kids who are starting, but if they’re bumming cigarettes off their friends, they’re not looking at the sewn up corpse of a former smoker.
The video states that 30 countries have graphic images and that they’ve been effective. I’m skeptical as there are variables that can affect the drop in usage – like price. If the price went up at the same time the graphic images were implemented, how do we know that it wasn’t the cost factor?
Anyway, I am not sure it will help. I can definitely see the argument of government overreach. Adults can make their own decisions about their lives. Since it’s going to happen, I do hope it helps. Maybe it can get some people to actually consider quitting.
Message to Smokers: Shoving that cigarette up your ass is a lot healthier than smoking it. But you knew that. I can only hope you quit. For all the reasons that will now be displayed on your pack of smokes.
Spinny Liberal 
June 23rd, 2011 at 2:26 AM
I am a smoker. I have tried to quit a thousand times, I swear its been that many. I do not want to be a smoker, believe me, I really don’t. I now smoke outside..and since the temps are hovering around 105 lately..and even right now..in the middle of the friggin night..its 85..so going outside to smoke means I really friggin need one.
We are drug addicts..not idiots.
If the cigs are so horrible and bad for us(which they are)..then why are they legally sold to us? We can not buy Cannabis, and that stuff wont fucking kill you, I don’t give a rat’s ass how hard you try to overdose on it. The worst thing it does is cause you to over-eat and sleep a lot.
Outlaw cigs and then make the smoking cessation products really fucking cheap..because they are NOT inexpensive. They are very expensive and most have major side effects too boot. I can not use the patch..it gives me horrible joint pain..I mean nasty-ass joint pain. I can not afford the new prescription product (can’t think of the name right now) to quit..its over 350 bucks a month for that product, and my health insurance company doesn’t cover it..but they DO cover Viagra..go figure.
I do not consider myself a rude smoker. I don’t toss my butts on the ground. I do not complain about how the govt is getting in my business by sticking those fucking nasty graphics all over my pack of smokes and taxing the shit out of them on both the state and federal levels. Sin tax? Bullshit..its an addiction tax.
Am I a bit touchy on this issue..oh fuck yes.
June 23rd, 2011 at 2:36 AM
I used to smoke and only quit for medical reasons and I’m not going to lie I do miss it. I tried the patches but I was sick with them and eventually went cold turkey. I was given an excellent book and one that may help, I don’t know but if you really want to it should help you through it. It’s called Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking, was a good read and helped the people I know who have used it.
I whole-heartily agree with you, it is an addiction tax
Astra Wally
June 23rd, 2011 at 2:40 AM
Thank you Astra Wally, I will find that book! I have even paid 500 bucks to have a hypnotist attempt to help me quit..it didn’t work either.
June 23rd, 2011 at 2:43 AM
Not a problem. I hope it is helpful, it is certainly a lot cheaper than the hypnotist. Good luck and I wish you all the success in the world!
Astra Wally.
June 23rd, 2011 at 8:50 AM
I definitely believe that marijuana should be legal. It makes no sense that alcohol and tobacco are legal. And you’re right about the OD’ing. Unless you’re smoking chronic, I’ve never heard of a stoner dying from the stuff.
I never heard of it being referred to as an addiction tax. I want to read more on that.
June 23rd, 2011 at 2:26 AM
They did that to the packets in Scotland a while back and I swear that people used to try and collect them all, sometimes swapping them like trading cards, crazy!
Too much money is generated from the tax on cigarettes and until the government’s (certainly my government) find something that will equal that, smoking will always be common place in modern society!
Astra Wally
June 23rd, 2011 at 8:53 AM
Collecting the images cracked me up. You’re right though. They make sooo much money off those taxes. I really don’t think it gives them that much of an incentive to really get people to quit.
June 23rd, 2011 at 3:08 AM
I don’t think this is government over reach spinny. The government is merely informing the general public what the hazards of smoking are and doing everything in their limited power to discourage it. As a former 2-pack a day smoker I appreciate that but ultimately the choice belongs to those who smoke.
Government over reach would be more what Dusty is suggesting by forbidding the manufacture and sell of it, though I wouldn’t have a problem if they did this either. Governments are not entities separate from what most in the public domain represent, though I’m sure it seems like that at times.
Governments can represent special interests though and convince enough in the public that certain special interests are also in line with popular views. The general ignorance of the public on important issues is astounding.
June 23rd, 2011 at 3:30 AM
You can call it ignorance. I choose to call it misinformation. The R’s repeat a lie long enough,with the Corporate Media in collusion, so it eventually becomes a truth. Faux Noise repeats the same lies over and over on a daily basis. This is why I see it as misinformation on the part of most Americans/Voters.
There are of course, many individuals that choose to believe the lies, and use them as talking points, because it suits their own self-interests or feeds/nurtures their hatred of certain segments of our population: gays, liliberals, people of color.
June 23rd, 2011 at 3:33 AM
I couldn’t see the entire comment box so excuse my grammatical errors.
I also want to add that your post on the issue is a very good one Lbwoodgate.
CQ’s Politifact site is excellent at providing facts to debunk the rights lies and obfuscations. I am sure you read that section as well?
June 23rd, 2011 at 9:10 AM
Don’t we get the information about that stuff already? At what point do they stop educating us on things that we already know? Like printing the number of calories on an item on a menu because the law requires it. I saw that at an Elephant Bar. I know Fettuccini Alfredo has a ton of calories. I think it said 1200 for the dish. What do I order? Fettuccini Alfredo.
I liked your post on public ignorance. 62% don’t know that there is a GOP majority in the House? Even though I think people should be more educated, sometimes ignorance is bliss. If people paid more attention, I think they’d be frustrated as hell like us. There are some pretty depressing crap that’s happening politically.
June 23rd, 2011 at 5:23 AM
In a truly bizarre move decades ago, FDA chose not to make cigs illegal for fear of what would ensue – a black market and the overwhelmingly disastrous lack of quitting resources that would, they believed, lead to massive stress on society – chaos, i.e., psychological and physical. I regret that foolish decision. Our society should have dealt with the consequences because down the line, the benefits would have outweighed the stress upon society. Now we have a serious problem on our hands – a tobacco industry that seeks to find replacement customers throughout the world and who has enormous resources to continue its killing machine.
As a person who works in a Tobacco Prevention program, I hear that question about illegality a lot. We who work in government tobacco prevention programs are left with the meager resources we’re given to combat the enormous and obscene resources that the tobacco industry has. And then, of course, as Dusty says, the nicotine replacement products are too expensive for many people. Insurance companies will cover those, but employers have to choose that benefit – and a lot of employers don’t realize the huge productivity and health care losses that come from smoking. Nicotine is a drug and a seriously powerful one at that. I talk to people every day who want to quit but say it’s the most difficult thing they’ve ever tried to do. I have pessimistic views about the benefit of the graphic warnings and I do not yet believe the research that claims they’re effective. What’s effective? Extremely high taxes on cigs, comprehensive smoke-free policies, and, to a limited extent, ready access to nicotine replacement therapies. Alone, high taxes on cigs have been shown, time after time, to be the most effective way to keep youth from starting smoking.
Everyone who smokes and wants to quit has my sympathy. It may be an adult choice, but frankly, the tobacco industry is extremely skilled at pulling in customers.
My recent post touched on the issue of Big Tobacco’s targeting of people.
June 23rd, 2011 at 9:19 AM
But wasn’t prohibition on alcohol a failure? I don’t know, but people will find ways to smoke anyway.
I have sympathy for you guys in Tobacco Prevention. David vs. Goliath. The money they have is insane. And I totally believe that the nicotine replacement drugs should be cheap. Cheaper than cigarettes even.
June 23rd, 2011 at 6:54 AM
I’m just gonna have to walk into my liquor store with my eyes closed next time I want a pack of Kools.
June 23rd, 2011 at 9:20 AM
Get one of those cases, and toss the box. I always thought those were pretty.
June 23rd, 2011 at 9:57 AM
A waste…..will be about as successful as the ad “This is your brain on drugs” all that did was increase the customer count at Waffle house…..
June 23rd, 2011 at 7:43 PM
😆
June 23rd, 2011 at 8:39 PM
I’m a smoker. (Jean, love you, but on this one, we’re Marlboro miles apart.) And I sometimes wonder what exactly kills smokers: the cigarettes, or all the crap and guilt-tripping they take from non-smokers. I smoke a lot actually, and I know it’s bad for me, and I know it’s good for me. Wouldn’t do it otherwise. I’m not a simplistic addict. I’ve never tried to stop. I’m not guilty about smoking, despite the efforts of multiple loved-ones to make me feel guilty. I like smoking. Smoking is part of me. If I have fewer years as a consequence, they were better years than they would have been without smoking. If people don’t like me because I smoke, I’m fine with that. I wouldn’t encourage anyone to smoke, though I’ve been tempted at times to evangelical smokism, but the current tobacco fascism bothers me. Anyone who is not a smoker does not understand what smoking means to a smoker. The burgeoning ranks of self-hating smokers don’t help. It is possible to be a smoker and not be teed up for a Telly Savalas oh-god-i-never-should-smoked ad. It is possible to smoke and be comfortable with smoking. It is possible to smoke and be less stressed.
Please, all smokers who want to quit, quit. But please don’t become tobacco fascists. And please, all smokers who aren’t ready to quit, be okay with yourselves, and contact me. Let’s talk, the way we do outside in the frigid cold or the blistering heat, finding a kindred spirit, because people who smoke instantly like each other. I love that.
June 24th, 2011 at 1:01 AM
Please, all smokers who want to quit, quit. But please don’t become tobacco fascists. Since you state you have never tried to quit, its very cavalier of you to say for us that want to quit..to just do it.
I don’t bust anyone’s balls to quit..its a personal choice. But I am offended by your statement, as you seem to think it’s just the easiest thing to do, when it’s not. Nicotine activates the same reward pathways in the brain that other drugs of abuse such as cocaine or amphetamines do
June 24th, 2011 at 1:05 AM
I didn’t finish..
Since nicotine is a highly addictive drug, quitting is no friggin picnic, for either the smoker or those that have to deal w/the addicted individual.
I have no problem w/individuals that want to smoke for the rest of their life. I don’t appreciate those ‘born again’ folks who preach to others after they have successfully gotten off the drug.
June 24th, 2011 at 1:33 AM
We’re not in different places Dusty. Look, my dear father’s heart gave out when he was 62, and he was a lifelong smoker who tried to quit a thousand times. I miss him. I’d never dream of saying it’s easy. My point was only this: either enjoy smoking or enjoy not smoking. Don’t be a self-hating smoker.
June 24th, 2011 at 5:03 AM
Love you, too, Kendrick – but most of all, I respect you. You’ve made an informed decision, you’re doing what you like doing and it’s your right to do so. My Tobacco program’s branded tagline is: “You decide when. We’ll show you how.” The reason we’re successful at reaching people is because we refuse to be fascists – we don’t demonize the smoker. When we do events, we wait for people to approach us rather than go after them. I never develop print or other media advertising that puts smokers in a negative light. But when it comes to the tobacco industry, I can’t think of a more evil enterprise. They get all my hate and ire.
Dusty: My heart goes out to you. I’ll suggest this, but don’t tell anyone I said it – give the e-cigarette a try. Some people claim it helped them quit smoking.
June 24th, 2011 at 8:34 AM
Kendrick, I just had to say, “Malboro Miles” took me back. My ex used to collect those things. I always thought of them as “frequent smoker miles.”
June 24th, 2011 at 1:41 AM
I am a self-hater, because I have failed so many times. I am a type A person and competitive too boot. I hate failure within myself.
It’s a personality thang dude. Can’t stop that easily either.
And you know that you can’t get a person’s intent by merely reading their words online..so the fact that you came back to clarify helps in that regard. 😉