Readers react to the new graphic warnings which will soon be appearing on cigarette packs.
Do you think graphic warning labels like these will make a difference in the smoking rates? Chime in below and let us know what you think.In the most significant change to U.S. cigarette packs in 25 years, the Food and Drug Administration announced last week that new warning labels that depict in graphic detail the negative health effects of tobacco use will soon be on every pack of smokes.
The labels will take up the top half — both front and back — of a pack of cigarette packs and include images such as the corpse of a smoker, diseased lungs, and a mother holding her baby with smoke swirling around them.
Canada introduced similar warning labels in 2000. Since then, its smoking rates have declined from about 26 percent to about 20 percent. How much the warnings contributed to the decline is unclear because the country also implemented other tobacco control efforts.
Mandates to introduce new graphic warning labels were part of a law passed in 2009 that, for the first time, gave the federal government authority to regulate tobacco, including setting guidelines for marketing and labeling, banning certain products and limiting nicotine.
While some people have hailed the government implementation of the new labels, others feel it is overreaching.
Here is what some of our readers had to say:
bdx2 says: How about we start putting pictures of twisted and mangled bodies on the side of six packs of beer also considering that alcohol does just as much if not more damage to society.
413guy says: this is such a radical practice they're doing. if people want to smoke, let them smoke. i thought this was a free country, where people may do as they please without any government intrusions.
dontbeignerint says: I think I have the right to not pay for you, as a smoker, to make bad decisions all your life. Not one penny. That's the biggest infringements of rights in this situation.
papineau says: We should take care of the druggies and drunks with Social Security Disability for life, but we can't provide a little end of life care for taxpayers who legally purchased and consumed tobacco products? Remember dontbe... these smokers paid taxes on every single pack they smoked, some in excess of forty years worth of taxes.
player01040 says: as far as the tobacco industry goes, big government is talking from both sides of their mouths. they take the money and perks offered by tobacco lobbyists while at the same time putting out ads for people to quit and restricting free speech by trying to force a certain content for cigarette pack ads and text.
Jim Kinney says: I think everyone can agree that any action that keeps a young person from smoking is a good thing. Whatever it takes to make sure no one else picks up the habit. I'm curious as to why these photos won't make people quit.
Laura Merwin says: As a new non-smoker (it's been exactly 103 days, 18 hours and 31 minutes ... but who's counting?) I can tell you right now, those photos will have no effect what-so-ever in getting people to quit. It is called an addiction for a reason. It IS an addiction and no matter how scary a photo you place on the package.
Lisa Evans37 says: I lost two men I loved, my father and my uncle, to smoking. They were among the millions who became addicted thanks to the government putting packs of cigarettes in their field rations in World War II.
What is your take on the new warning labels that will soon be on cigarette packs? Chime in below and let us know what you think.