When I saw this story which Drudge earlier, I thought it involved the United States.
Smokers buying cigarettes will from Wednesday be confronted with a series of gruesome images printed on the packets showing how tobacco damages health.
The pictures, which show cancerous lungs and throats as well as rotting teeth, replace written warnings such as "Smoking clogs the arteries and causes heart attacks and strokes" or "Smoking can cause a slow and painful death" which currently greet going to light up.
The picture warnings will start appearing on cigarette packs from October 1 and will be compulsory from October next year. They will be printed on all tobacco products from October 2010.
But for now it's apparently only in the UK:
One in six people in Britain smoke out of population of more than 60 million and the government has been stepping up measures to reduce that figure.
[...]
Smoking in enclosed public places was banned across the country from July 2007.
"These new stark picture warnings emphasise the harsh health realities of continuing to smoke," Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson said.
"I hope they will make many more (people) think hard about giving up and get the help they need to stop smoking for good."
I guess the idea is that forcing advertisers to display gruesome imagery will deter cigarette smoking.
Whether the US will follow suit remains to be seen. There's no First Amendment in England, but I like to think the tobacco companies would have something to say in court about being forced to put an image like this on their product:
Sheesh. I don't even know whether it's appropriate to display in a nice clean blog!
They keep this up, my nerves will be so shattered that I might have to take up tobacco again!
UPDATE: The picture drew complaints, so I altered it.
...but you can't show a woman about to purchase an abortion a picture of an aborted fetus (or even an image of a living fetus at three months' gestation), because that might influence her behavior. I find these contradictions curious.
I do too, but I think I'll hold off on the bloody fetuses pictures.
posted by Eric on 10.01.08 at 10:53 AM
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Interesting mortality statistic: one divorce is worse for your health (statistically! statistically! Think before you comment!) than forty pack-years of cigarettes.
...but you can't show a woman about to purchase an abortion a picture of an aborted fetus (or even an image of a living fetus at three months' gestation), because that might influence her behavior. I find these contradictions curious.
My buddy went to Thailand for work (he works for State) and they do the same thing over there.
He said the pics were gruesome, he didn't bring any back.
Heather, it helps if you understand that to good lefties, there is only one thing you have a choice on. For everything else, you must be a free-thinker and do what everybody else is doing.
Veeshir · October 1, 2008 03:56 PM
Odd that fetus, smoking and images which caught a lot of flax came up.
20 some years ago I was about 3 months pregnant and either the American Cancer Society or American Heart Association (probably the latter) ran an ad that started with the back of was clearly a fetus hanging in mid-air against a dark background (unbilical cord left no doubt), smoking drifting above its head. Slowly the fetus turned and had a lit cigerette hanging from it's mouth. I don't remember any words. I don't remember any music, though I'd bet there was. I only remember the stark image.
I quit. I had cut down substantially but quit pretty much cold turkey after seeing that ad.
Only saw it once but did hear a week or so later that they had received so many complaints about the ad they pulled it.
I thought it quite forceful.
rgaye · October 1, 2008 07:21 PM
Why pussy foot around? Just make smoking illegal and ban tobacco. Problem solved, right?
What do you mean, people will break such a law? That's crazy talk.
Oh, and let's continue legalizing pot. It's ludicrous that struggling pizza delivery drivers are harrassed for trying to relax with a harmless toke.
Steve Skubinna · October 2, 2008 07:20 AM
How about a series of photographs on our voter registration forms, detailing the fates of those who use the institutions of the republic to undermine the citizen's individual rights?
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
Don?t bang your head!
Interesting mortality statistic: one divorce is worse for your health (statistically! statistically! Think before you comment!) than forty pack-years of cigarettes.