NationStates Jolt Archive

So in an attempt to stop people smoking the government has ordered that rather disturbing images of gangrenous feet, rotten teeth, etc, be placed on cigarette packages to warn people of the affects of smoking. Then when smokers decide that they want to buy cigarette covers so that they don't have to look at the disgusting pictures, people are up in arms about it. I am a non-smoker, but I still have problems with this:

* If a person chooses to smoke, no one may prevent them from choosing not to. People are aware of the dangers of smoking, but if they chose that they still want to smoke then they are entitled to do so without having to continually be pressured by other people to quit.

* It is well known that cigarettes kill the person that are smoking them. It is also well known that passive smoking has the same affects as being the actual smoker. If the government are concerned about a persons choice to smoke harming other people, then the solution is to make public smoking illegal. Don't try to force them to quit, just make them do it in their own home.

* These pictures have set a precedent. Smokes kill people. So let's try to stop them. But alcohol also kills people. It is also direcly responsible for killing other people. Alcohol makes a lot of people aggressive. Get's them into fights. Makes them make stupid decisions like driving while intoxicated. You can't trust a person to consume alcohol in their own home. The effects can make them want to go on a joy ride and run over a few people. Alcohol is much more dangerous that cigarettes. Yet we don't see a bottle of vodka covered in pictures of extreme liver damage and people lying int the gutter going through the DT's.
I like my alcohol as much as the next person. I don't want it covered in horrible pictures. But if they're not going to do it to alcohol, then they can't do it to cigarettes either.

There are worse things than death.

Like 15 years of chemotherapy that destroys your family's nest egg and forces your wife to sell the house and move into an apartment and clear out your kids' college funds to pay for your medical care because your HMO dropped you.

Then your cancer goes into remission and you get about five years to claw your way out of debt before it returns more aggressive than ever. You hang on for another year or agonizing pain and finally expire looking like a skeleton with skin.

Lovely final 20 years, eh?

Or better yet, maybe you'll spend your golden years with an oxygen tank attached to your walker because you can barely cross the room anymore. You have a portable toilet(a bedpan on a stand) near your bed so you don't have to befoul yourself as you sleep. But sometime you do anyway because getting up is too tiring.

THere are some things that pictures just can't capture. :p

There are worse things than death.

Like 15 years of chemotherapy that destroys your family's nest egg and forces your wife to sell the house and move into an apartment and clear out your kids' college funds to pay for your medical care because your HMO dropped you.

Then your cancer goes into remission and you get about five years to claw your way out of debt before it returns more aggressive than ever. You hang on for another year or agonizing pain and finally expire looking like a skeleton with skin.

Lovely final 20 years, eh?

Or better yet, maybe you'll spend your golden years with an oxygen tank attached to your walker because you can barely cross the room anymore. You have a portable toilet(a bedpan on a stand) near your bed so you don't have to befoul yourself as you sleep. But sometime you do anyway because getting up is too tiring.

THere are some things that pictures just can't capture. :p


Wow, that was great. I feel like lighting up now.

I don't care what anyone says...smoking is still cool.

I am fully in agreement with you, but is there a news story or document I can get the hard news from about this?

Anti-smoking campaigns may as well just be throwing away money. They spend millions of dollars on stupid "truth" commercials, when they could be using those millions to perhaps create a cure for cancer or a safer cigarette.

I highly recommend the movie "Thank You For Smoking."

They worked on my boss. She woke up one night and her arm was asleep - and in her half-awake state she thought it had gotten gangrene and had to be taken off.

And now she's bought a book "How to quit smoking" and hasn't had a cigarette for a week and a half.

Wow, that was great. I feel like lighting up now.

Feel free. Maybe you'll be lucky an they'll just kill you. Then again, maybe you'll have some time to rot first. :p

Feel free. Maybe you'll be lucky an they'll just kill you. Then again, maybe you'll have some time to rot first. :p

Meh. I plan on being killed by a psycho ex WAY before cancer has time to kick in.

I am fully in agreement with you, but is there a news story or document I can get the hard news from about this?

Anti-smoking campaigns may as well just be throwing away money. They spend millions of dollars on stupid "truth" commercials, when they could be using those millions to perhaps create a cure for cancer or a safer cigarette.

I highly recommend the movie "Thank You For Smoking."

Not that I know of. Try: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_packet_warning_signs

There are some example pictures there.

They worked on my boss. She woke up one night and her arm was asleep - and in her half-awake state she thought it had gotten gangrene and had to be taken off.

And now she's bought a book "How to quit smoking" and hasn't had a cigarette for a week and a half.


Doesn't matter. It's not our place to pressure people into quitting.

I don't think it will work, people will get used to the pictures. They will only quit if they genuinely want to, you can't force them to.

I don't think it will work, people will get used to the pictures. They will only quit if they genuinely want to, you can't force them to.

Exactly. So why force all the non-smokers to have to look at the pictures. Damn government.

I don't think that pictures on the packages will do that much to stop people from smoking, how many smokers do you know read the labels before they start to smoke?

Doesn't matter. It's not our place to pressure people into quitting.
Obviously. As long as we make sure that not a single cent of my money (ie taxes) is spent on these people or the damage they do.

There are worse things than death.

Like 15 years of chemotherapy that destroys your family's nest egg and forces your wife to sell the house and move into an apartment and clear out your kids' college funds to pay for your medical care because your HMO dropped you.

Then your cancer goes into remission and you get about five years to claw your way out of debt before it returns more aggressive than ever. You hang on for another year or agonizing pain and finally expire looking like a skeleton with skin.

Lovely final 20 years, eh?

Or better yet, maybe you'll spend your golden years with an oxygen tank attached to your walker because you can barely cross the room anymore. You have a portable toilet(a bedpan on a stand) near your bed so you don't have to befoul yourself as you sleep. But sometime you do anyway because getting up is too tiring.

THere are some things that pictures just can't capture. :p

That's beautiful. Couldn't have said it better myself.

My dear old grandma is suffering greatly for her decision to start smoking nearly 60 years ago. The effects don't just go away if you stop smoking, either.

I don't care what anyone says...smoking is still cool.

Sucking hot tar and poison through a straw is cool ? Why ?
You have every right to do that of course, as long as you not bother me with the smell or your future medical bills, but what exactly makes smoking cool ?

Sucking hot tar and poison through a straw is cool ? Why ?
You have every right to do that of course, as long as you not bother me with the smell or your future medical bills, but what exactly makes smoking cool ?

Rotting is cool. ;)

Rotting is cool. ;)
Is it now? I want to rot like all the other cool kids. Give me a cigarette too!

I'm from Ontario, and we've had these pictures on our cigarette packages for ages. When they first came out, everyone made a big stink about it but eventually we just became desensitized to those pics as much as anything else we deal with on a day to day basis. Sure I grumble sometimes when I get the picture of a dying heart on my cigs but I neither notice nor care. It's just something else everyone cooked up to attack smokers.

That's right. They attack smokers. That's about all that happens nowadays. Meanwhile the government plays both sides. My government wants me to smoke as much as they want me to quit because they get an enourmous amount of taxes (the price of a pack is up to $10). So while they take a crap on you about smoking they also want you to light up.

But lemme ask you all this. Why is it acceptable to criticize smokers publically? No one goes up to fat people and makes fun of them for being so "stupid". They treat it as a problem, with sensitivity. But no one ever thinks about that with smokers. Nevermind the fact that Nicorette still costs more than a pack of smokes.

To the government and the anti-cigarette Nazis - screw you. I'm sure many of the people who scream about cigarettes have no qualm scorfing down corndogs and microwave burritos. My body is a temple and I treat it just as badly as you do.

But lemme ask you all this. Why is it acceptable to criticize smokers publically?

Possibly because their smoke is harmful to other people as well.

No one goes up to fat people and makes fun of them for being so "stupid". They treat it as a problem, with sensitivity.

...You're kidding, right?

I'm from Ontario, and we've had these pictures on our cigarette packages for ages. When they first came out, everyone made a big stink about it but eventually we just became desensitized to those pics as much as anything else we deal with on a day to day basis. Sure I grumble sometimes when I get the picture of a dying heart on my cigs but I neither notice nor care. It's just something else everyone cooked up to attack smokers.

That's right. They attack smokers. That's about all that happens nowadays. Meanwhile the government plays both sides. My government wants me to smoke as much as they want me to quit because they get an enourmous amount of taxes (the price of a pack is up to $10). So while they take a crap on you about smoking they also want you to light up.

But lemme ask you all this. Why is it acceptable to criticize smokers publically? No one goes up to fat people and makes fun of them for being so "stupid". They treat it as a problem, with sensitivity. But no one ever thinks about that with smokers. Nevermind the fact that Nicorette still costs more than a pack of smokes.

To the government and the anti-cigarette Nazis - screw you. I'm sure many of the people who scream about cigarettes have no qualm scorfing down corndogs and microwave burritos. My body is a temple and I treat it just as badly as you do.


Well said.:fluffle:

Possibly because their smoke is harmful to other people as well.



...You're kidding, right?

Hence why we have "smoking" and "non-smoking" areas.

This whole thing reminds me of denis learys no cure for cancer cd

There's a guy- I don't know if you've heard about this guy, he's been on the news a lot lately. There's a guy- he's English, I don't think we should hold that against him, but apparently this is just his life's dream because he is going from country to country. He has a senate hearing in this country coming up in a couple of weeks. And this is what he wants to do. He wants to make the warnings on the packs bigger. Yeah! He wants the whole front of the pack to be the warning. Like the problem is we just haven't noticed yet. Right? Like he's going to get his way and all of the sudden smokers around the world are going to be going, "Yeah, Bill, I've got some cigarettes.. HOLY SHIT! These things are bad for you! Shit, I thought they were good for you! I thought they had Vitamin C in them and stuff!" You fucking dolt! Doesn't matter how big the warnings are. You could have cigarettes that were called the warnings. You could have cigarrets that come in a black pack, with a skull and a cross bone on the front, called tumors and smokers would be lined up around the block going, "I can't wait to get my hands on these fucking things! I bet you get a tumor as soon as you light up! Numm Numm Numm Numm Numm" Doesn't matter how big the warnings are or how much they cost. Keep raising the prices, we'll break into your houses to get the fucking cigarettes, ok!? There a drug, we're addicted, ok!? Numm Numm Numm Numm Numm *wheeze*

On the plus side they dont take away the best years

We just want to smoke in peace, friends.

...You're kidding, right?

Its a disease if you eat too much and have no will power. But to smoke something that is actually addictive :eek: makes you scum!

You wanna take away healthcare or any taxation money for people who smoke. Why not do it for fat people with high blood pressue or people who undertake dangerous activities like rock climbing. Smokers pay their income tax and their tax on ciggaretts and if they want to live with the negative effects leave them be.

I've stopped smoking a half year ago... now I'm richer ;)

Some of my friends have started collections. :p

thisis just wrong.

I saw a commercial on tv like this..

They were showing a smokers.. something.. and they pressed down on it and all this fat came gushing out of it.

Sick.

Some of my friends have started collections. :p
Oh my.

I'm OK with people smoking. So long as:

-You don't do it near me, my food or drink, my friends or my family.

-You don't drain from our NHS services (We have one in the UK but as far as I know not in America?)

-You don't start fires which we have to pay for in taxes.

-You don't smoke while pregnant so we have another generation of dumbasses running the country.

-You don't do it in public where I can smell the fumes.

-You don't borrow money for cigarettes.

-You don't take paid days off work with smoking-related diseases and expect me to cover with no overtime.

But hey, If you smoke in private, are careful enough not to start a fire, have private healthcare/insurance, don't borrow or steal to buy them(You'd be surprised; where I live this is common!) and don't take paid time off work I'm fine with your smoking.

Think that's a little harsh? Not really; kill yourself if you really want but don't expect me or anyone else to pick up the pieces, and I certainly wont show any sympathy.

EDIT: I also dislike obese people who scrounge off the state too, and alcoholics/drug-addicts on the dole. I watched this program a while ago with some great fat bloke who saw nothing wrong with eating 5+ cooked breakfasts a day at a restaurant, even though he had no job to afford this. The presenter later mentioned that this guy's size had caused him to become disabled and he was living off disability benefits!

Oh my.

:D

They have the same thing in Singapore too. When one came back from a trip there before they brought these packets out over here he brought some empty packs back to show all of us and was proud of collecting every single one. It has absolutely zero effect upon him. :p

Actually, there was another stupid move over here as well. The government decided late last year that the standard strength names ("mild", "super mild" etc.) were misleading and they forced the companies to change the names. Now they're called things like "fresh" and "fine". The resulting effect is that nobody knows what cigarretes they smoke anymore, which is interesting when I have to sell smokes to people at work. Heheheh.

Almost any habit in excess can be life threatening, or otherwise detrimental to ones health and/or lifestyle. If people could execute self control, we wouldn't have a lot of these problems in the first place. :headbang:

Smoking tobacco isn't really that bad for you in moderation, or maybe slight excess. The problem is all the extra crap that cigarette companies add for "flavor" or for "filling". Filling would be anything that is cheaper than tabacco that they can stuff in there without affecting the perceived "quality" of the cigarette. Around the turn of the century 19th to 20th, saw dust was actually used as filler in sausage. :eek:

You wanna take away healthcare or any taxation money for people who smoke. Why not do it for fat people with high blood pressue .

They're already doing this in some parts of the UK.

Why does any of this even matter? What happened to letting people get on with their lives without questioning everything? There was once a time when people would have laughed these anti-smoking campaigns out of Congress.

Personally, I think cancer is proof that EVERYONE is supposed to die someday. I'm not being insensitive; I've lost family to it.

On the flip side, if someone smokes around others that don't wish to be exposed to smoke (IE, next to them in a locked closet. The concept of walking away seems to escape a lot of people), then thats not right, there should be measures taken to prevent that. But smoking around people in a Bar? I don't see much a problem with that.

And finally, people will become desensitized to all thie pictures. It might prevent a few hundred people a year from starting...nothing significant in the big picture of things.

A poll should be carried out to find out at what age people started smoking. i would bet that the majority would be 14 or so.

This is what we should be addressing.

Also, where cigarettes are sold should be regulated.

Why does any of this even matter? What happened to letting people get on with their lives without questioning everything? There was once a time when people would have laughed these anti-smoking campaigns out of Congress.



i agree. my point is, is that i believe most people start smoking at an early age, when kids want to rebel. this is what we need to address.
people do not tend to start smoking after their 20's,when they generally have the sense not to start smoking in the first place.


there is NO good or benefit that comes from smoking.


Apart from it being cool, of course!

A poll should be carried out to find out at what age people started smoking. i would bet that the majority would be 14 or so.

This is what we should be addressing.

Also, where cigarettes are sold should be regulated.

Thats a good point.

But the problem is that putting out anti-smoking advertisements everywhere mildly violates people's freedom to choose to smoke. So what we would need to do is put out the facts WITHOUT saying "Don't smoke." Thats very similar to what they're doing right now.

:D

They have the same thing in Singapore too. When one came back from a trip there before they brought these packets out over here he brought some empty packs back to show all of us and was proud of collecting every single one. It has absolutely zero effect upon him. :p
I want to start collecting these covers!

No effect? Maybe a picture of tubgirl on the pack will work :p

Actually, there was another stupid move over here as well. The government decided late last year that the standard strength names ("mild", "super mild" etc.) were misleading and they forced the companies to change the names. Now they're called things like "fresh" and "fine". The resulting effect is that nobody knows what cigarretes they smoke anymore, which is interesting when I have to sell smokes to people at work. HehehehBe American.. er.. USian!.. er.. Bushian! .. and use the whole "light; mentol; etc.." system.

*shrugs*

Thats a good point.

But the problem is that putting out anti-smoking advertisements everywhere mildly violates people's freedom to choose to smoke. So what we would need to do is put out the facts WITHOUT saying "Don't smoke." Thats very similar to what they're doing right now.

well i'm not sure that it does violate a person's freedom of choice. You're still free to choose to smoke, you just have to endure daily harrasment in various forms if you do choose to smoke.

Being told NOT to smoke has EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE effect. people do not like to be told what to do and are more likely to exactly that opposite in response to this.

i agree. my point is, is that i believe most people start smoking at an early age, when kids want to rebel. this is what we need to address.
people do not tend to start smoking after their 20's,when they generally have the sense not to start smoking in the first place.


there is NO good or benefit that comes from smoking.


Apart from it being cool, of course!
I think we should all substitute ciggies with joints.

*nods*

Lovely final 20 years, eh?

15 + 5 + 1 = 21, by the way.

I want to start collecting these covers!

No effect? Maybe a picture of tubgirl on the pack will work :p

LOL! You could do a series.

"Smoking may cause Japanese Enemaitis."

"Smoking may stretch your anus."

"Smoking in pregnant women may cause Harlequin Fetus."

They would so work.

Be American.. er.. USian!.. er.. Bushian! .. and use the whole "light; mentol; etc.." system.

*shrugs*

We had those, but they had to be changed too. I think menthol stayed the same but they came up with some dicky name for lights.

well i'm not sure that it does violate a person's freedom of choice. You're still free to choose to smoke, you just have to endure daily harrasment in various forms if you do choose to smoke.

Being told NOT to smoke has EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE effect. people do not like to be told what to do and are more likely to exactly that opposite in response to this.

But the hurrasment is the thing I'm dealing with. People can put out harrasment charges for almost anything. I bet somewhere, someone will put out a charge against the Truth company for indirectly harrassing them through all their adds. I personally wouldn't want to watch those things if I smoked.

LOL! You could do a series.

"Smoking may cause Japanese Enemaitis."

"Smoking may stretch your anus."

"Smoking in pregnant women may cause Harlequin Fetus."

They would so work.
*looks for cigy package template*
We had those, but they had to be changed too. I think menthol stayed the same but they came up with some dicky name for lights.
I think that is.. stupid.

But the hurrasment is the thing I'm dealing with. People can put out harrasment charges for almost anything. I bet somewhere, someone will put out a charge against the Truth company for indirectly harrassing them through all their adds. I personally wouldn't want to watch those things if I smoked.

fair point. i should add that i do smoke, though i do not feel harrased by the ad's. I understand what the gov't is attempting, i just believe they're wasting there money on a pretty large scale. They should look at more effective ways of spending tax money.

"Dieing of lung cancer can seriously damage your health" Bernard Woolley.

If the Government want to put these pictures on the packets let them. If someone has a problem with it they don't have to look at them, or they can give up. As a long time medical practitioner I know some of the things fags will do to you body, and no matter how many times you tell people, there are those who will smoke anyway.
I just think that if you get a major medical problem that is directly due to you smoking you shouldn't get treatment on the NHS. About 1/3 of all my patients have problems due to their smoking, and they clog up space that could be used by people who need my help. But I am bound by my oath to help anyone, so I will treat them.

fair point. i should add that i do smoke, though i do not feel harrased by the ad's. I understand what the gov't is attempting, i just believe they're wasting there money on a pretty large scale. They should look at more effective ways of spending tax money.

And thats what this all comes down to...money.

Sucking hot tar and poison through a straw is cool ? Why ?
You have every right to do that of course, as long as you not bother me with the smell or your future medical bills, but what exactly makes smoking cool ?


How about if someone sleeps around and catches an STD or desires an abortion?

Or if they eat themselves into diabetes?

How about if someone sleeps around and catches an STD or desires an abortion?
Or if they eat themselves into diabetes?

Then they have every right to take responsibility for their actions.
However, to link your post to my actual question: I just realised that overeating and being a slut seem to have somewhat less of the "coolness factor" that smoking has. Why ?

Meh, we've had the pictures on cigarette packages for a while now and it doesn't deter anyone. I know some smokers who collect them, others request specific ones (a favourite among girls appears to be the wilted cigarette and warning about impotence for it's hilarious-ness) it just accompanies the warnings about how you'll get cancer and the like.

There are worse things than death.

Like 15 years of chemotherapy that destroys your family's nest egg and forces your wife to sell the house and move into an apartment and clear out your kids' college funds to pay for your medical care because your HMO dropped you.

Then your cancer goes into remission and you get about five years to claw your way out of debt before it returns more aggressive than ever. You hang on for another year or agonizing pain and finally expire looking like a skeleton with skin.

Lovely final 20 years, eh?

Or better yet, maybe you'll spend your golden years with an oxygen tank attached to your walker because you can barely cross the room anymore. You have a portable toilet(a bedpan on a stand) near your bed so you don't have to befoul yourself as you sleep. But sometime you do anyway because getting up is too tiring.

THere are some things that pictures just can't capture. :p

Good point - we're likely to get cancer even without smoking cigarettes, so why not smoke and enjoy the non-cancered years?

I know, I know. That wasn't your point. Your point was the opposite: smoking cigarettes gives you cancer automatically, and not smoking them means you'll die a peaceful, expense-less, painless and mercifully short life. Ahh, naievete :)

Then they have every right to take responsibility for their actions.
However, to link your post to my actual question: I just realised that overeating and being a slut seem to have somewhat less of the "coolness factor" that smoking has. Why ?


I disagree.

I think being a slut is cool now-a-days.

Smoking cigarettes is kind of on the way out.

Over eating has never been cool.