Smokers --Question about Images on Cigarette Packages

[christiane]

Anti-smoking images on cigarette packages are about to get more graphic in the U.S. & Canada. They will include photographs of a 42-year old woman in the last stages of lung cancer. The cancer was attributed to cigarette smoking.

I was wondering what kind of impact these images will have on smokers. Will they cause you to make any changes?

 

[dodukes]

prob not, in europe they already have graphic sayings on them and it doesnt seem to stop anybody,,,lol...

 

[plutolovr]

I seriously doubt it will. My mom lost my dad to lung cancer and it was ugly. She is still smoking. My aunt lost her husband to throat cancer (smoking related) and she is also still smoking. I've lost most of my family on my mom's side to smoking-related reasons and it hasn't stopped my mom and her sister from smoking. Unbelieveable if you ask me. Stupid is as stupid does. So you can see I doubt it will do any good.
It may hopefully deter new smokers though. We can only hope.

 

[minkydog]

I agree. Smokers smoke because they like smoking.Even when they want to quit it's really hard because smoking is very pleasurable for them. The little graphic pix aren't going to deter them because smokers don't really believe that cancer, heart disease, miscarriage, and COPD will happen to them. They are somehow magically immune--until they develop CAD or emphysema or cancer. Then there is great wailing and gnashing of teeth and promises to change.

We have lost 2 family members to a type of non-smokers lung cancer. My dad also died of a non-smokers lung cancer. DH has severe lung disease which will eventually kill him. None of these people ever used any form of tobacco. Why in the heck would someone willingly inhale smoke, tar, and carcinogens? It's not like they don't know about these things.

 

[pospisil]

Nope, it won't affect me in the slightest, or any other smoker that I know. I know all the risks, and agree that it's a stupid habit, but I like it. Having pictures won't magically make me quit.

 

[C.Ann]

It's a total waste of money..

A much better idea - that actually works for some people - is to insert a photo of their child/wife/husband/SO inside the cellophane on both sides of the pack of cigarettes so they're staring at them every time they pick it up to take a cigarette out.. Far more effective!

 

[DisMN]

Most of you are highly underestimating the addictive nature of nicotine. It's not that people don't want to quit but that it's very very difficult to do so....
that said, no, I don't think the pics will stop people who are already addicted.

HOWEVER, I do think it might give pause to younger beginner smokers, at least I'm hoping that's the case.

C.Anns idea is really a good one that people could and should impliment themselves as they try to withdraw from their cancer sticks.

 

[JennyDarling]

I'm not a heavy smoker and don't smoke everyday. I don't think the packaging will make me smoke any less.

 

[pearlieq]

I don't think it's going to help any more than putting the picture of a foot with gangrene on a pack of Twinkies.

I understand the motivation for doing it--I wish there was some magical way to make people (myself included) make good decisions for themselves.

There's just no underestimating our ability to live for now and assume "it won't happen to me".

 

[overlyspoiled4sure]

Nope, I don't think so. I thought the cost alone would push people into quitting but I still see folks buying smokes & lighting up. Ewwwwwwww!!

You'd also think the stink would make folks quit. Nope. Even having your kids tell you they'd wish you'd quit doesn't work either.

Smokers won't quit until THEY'RE ready & only then. I finally managed to kick the habit. Surprisingly enough, I found it easy. At the time I worked in the office of a shop that sold auto/motorcycle/industrial batteries. My boss said I could go outside if I needed a smoke, but no way was I allowed to smoke in the office--apparently battery acid can explode. I decided then that it would be a good time to quit. So I did & that was almost 30 years ago. Now the smell of smoke is enough to make me gag. Ewwwwwwwwwww! Awful stink!! Smokers stink; their clothes stink; everything about it stinks. Hmmmmm. Can you tell I'm for people quitting????

 

[Linda in sunny SC]

I thank God every day that I never had any desire to start smoking. I watched both of my parents die from lung cancer. My mom was only 68. My older sister saw it as well yet she still smokes. She doesn't even want to quit. I don't understand it at all.

 

[christiane]

Thank you for your responses, everyone. I am truly sorry to hear of those who have lost loved ones to smoking-related diseases.

I agree with everyone that these images will probably not be very effective. I remember the first time I saw a package with a photograph of smoke-damaged lungs and the words "SMOKING KILLS" in large letters. I was taken aback & asked the person who owned the cigarettes about the images and they really hadn't even noticed it!

I think most smokers logically know what they are doing to their bodies & the addiction is so fierce that this knowledge is not enough to stop them. I agree that the motivation needs to come from within. I can only hope that the graphic images will stop young people from smoking in the first place.

My neighbour who is in her seventies recently told me that she quit smoking cold turkey 40 years ago. The only thing that did it was her doctor sternly telling her, "You have 3 little children. You have no business smoking & are utterly selfish if you continue". She said no one had ever talked to her about quitting before this. She stopped immediately and for good! I thought that was a very progressive doctor to speak like that back then when smoking was widely accepted and doctors were not nearly as aggressive in getting their patients to quit.

 

[rie'smom]

Won't affect me. I smoke 3 cigs a day for 2 reasons- I like it and it helps my IBS.

 

[C.Ann]

Won't affect me. I smoke 3 cigs a day for 2 reasons- I like it and it helps my IBS.

In terms of the IBS, I'm not sure how it helps you - but I have read that smoking in general alleviates pain to a pretty significant degree..

I'm always interested in information regarding smoking - because it's just not as black and white as people make it out to be.. I've seen 90 yr. old men and women puffing away - having smoked all their lives - still active and healthy..

On the flip side, I have seen people quit smoking and 25 to 30 years later they're diagnosed with lung cancer and die.. (This has happened to quite a few people I know..) When you're talking lung cancer, I think if you have ever smoked (more than 2 or 3 cigarettes a day) for more than a couple of years, the damage to your lungs is done - and the fact that you quit smoking 30 years ago isn't going to prevent you from getting lung cancer.. It's damage that can't be undone - the smoker simply isn't "adding" to it - if that makes any sense..

Now there are electronic cigarettes.. No first or second-hand smoke.. What is coming out that appears to be smoke is a water vapor - completely odorless and completely harmless.. The person who is "vaping" is only getting nicotine (the same as they would from a nicotine patch or nicotine gum).. Is it better? Safer? Worse? The addiction to nicotine is still there, but everything else is gone..

I know people who smoke once a week; people who only smoke in social situations; people who quit smoking and haven't had a "well" day since..

Then I think back to the 60's - when women smoked while they were pregnant.. (Heck - right in the hospital..) No low-birth weight babies; no babies with health issues; and the mother's are still alive as well.. Why?

I just find it a very interesting topic - which often carries contradictory information..

I would never encourage anyone to take it up as a full-time activity - but I would never dump all over someone for smoking either - unless they were endangering their children.. Adults can simply remove themselves from a smoking situation if they really want to.. Children don't have that option..

Still think my idea of the photo of a loved one would have more of an impact on many smokers than a graphic photo would.. That money could be put to better use elsewhere..

 

[rie'smom]

In terms of the IBS, I'm not sure how it helps you - but I have read that smoking in general alleviates pain to a pretty significant degree..

I'm always interested in information regarding smoking - because it's just not as black and white as people make it out to be.. I've seen 90 yr. old men and women puffing away - having smoked all their lives - still active and healthy..

On the flip side, I have seen people quit smoking and 25 to 30 years later they're diagnosed with lung cancer and die.. (This has happened to quite a few people I know..) When you're talking lung cancer, I think if you have ever smoked (more than 2 or 3 cigarettes a day) for more than a couple of years, the damage to your lungs is done - and the fact that you quit smoking 30 years ago isn't going to prevent you from getting lung cancer.. It's damage that can't be undone - the smoker simply isn't "adding" to it - if that makes any sense..

Now there are electronic cigarettes.. No first or second-hand smoke.. What is coming out that appears to be smoke is a water vapor - completely odorless and completely harmless.. The person who is "vaping" is only getting nicotine (the same as they would from a nicotine patch or nicotine gum).. Is it better? Safer? Worse? The addiction to nicotine is still there, but everything else is gone..

I know people who smoke once a week; people who only smoke in social situations; people who quit smoking and haven't had a "well" day since..

Then I think back to the 60's - when women smoked while they were pregnant.. (Heck - right in the hospital..) No low-birth weight babies; no babies with health issues; and the mother's are still alive as well.. Why?

I just find it a very interesting topic - which often carries contradictory information..

I would never encourage anyone to take it up as a full-time activity - but I would never dump all over someone for smoking either - unless they were endangering their children.. Adults can simply remove themselves from a smoking situation if they really want to.. Children don't have that option..

Still think my idea of the photo of a loved one would have more of an impact on many smokers than a graphic photo would.. That money could be put to better use elsewhere..

After trying things for years that never worked, I read an article where a gastroenterologist had suggested smoking 2-3 cigarettes to his IBS patients, so I tried it and it worked! I don't like the way cigs smell at all and I always wash my hands and my face, brush my teeth, and spray perfume after each time that I smoke. The relief it has brought makes it worth it.

 

[C.Ann]

After trying things for years that never worked, I read an article where a gastroenterologist had suggested smoking 2-3 cigarettes to his IBS patients, so I tried it and it worked! I don't like the way cigs smell at all and I always wash my hands and my face, brush my teeth, and spray perfume after each time that I smoke. The relief it has brought makes it worth it.

I wonder if the electronic cigarette would work the same way? (If it's the nicotine that's helping you..) DD bought one as a joke - to trick her IL's and her DH a couple of days ago.. (She quit smoking 3 yrs. ago..) Anyhow, it was a single electronic cigarette - $10 - and you're supposed to get 500 puffs out of it.. Something to think about - so you don't have to worry about the odors and such.. (Oh - and there's an electronic shut-off on it - so you can't vape to the point where you will get too much nicotine in your system at once..) The IL's were dumbfounded - thought it was a "real" cigarette and couldn't figure out why there was no odor of "smoke"..LOL..

 

[DebbieB]

When I was connecting in the Frankfurt airport last year, we noticed a pack of cigarettes had the message on the side "can cause impotence". We laughed, that might strike some fear!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Anti-smoking images on cigarette packages are about to get more graphic in the U.S. & Canada. They will include photographs of a 42-year old woman in the last stages of lung cancer. The cancer was attributed to cigarette smoking.

I was wondering what kind of impact these images will have on smokers. Will they cause you to make any changes?

Smoking is an addiction. I have quit again for hopefully the 4th and final time in Oct.

The only thing to make you quit is you have to want to quit.

Now maybe these images will get some people to think about quitting? I don't know.

 

[rie'smom]

I wonder if the electronic cigarette would work the same way? (If it's the nicotine that's helping you..) DD bought one as a joke - to trick her IL's and her DH a couple of days ago.. (She quit smoking 3 yrs. ago..) Anyhow, it was a single electronic cigarette - $10 - and you're supposed to get 500 puffs out of it.. Something to think about - so you don't have to worry about the odors and such.. (Oh - and there's an electronic shut-off on it - so you can't vape to the point where you will get too much nicotine in your system at once..) The IL's were dumbfounded - thought it was a "real" cigarette and couldn't figure out why there was no odor of "smoke"..LOL..

I bought a kit a couple of months ago. The liquid flavor was so disgusting. That was $150 down the drain. It did not work as easily as the ads promised.

 

[Lassie Lynne]

Then I think back to the 60's - when women smoked while they were pregnant.. (Heck - right in the hospital..) No low-birth weight babies; no babies with health issues; and the mother's are still alive as well.. Why?

I am sure that there were issues with babies born to mothers who smoked, just it wasn't probably documented as well then or the exact causes may not have been exactly known. It is funny, but one of the questions I was asked by a specialist when I was having health issues was if I knew if my mother took drugs, alcohol or smoked when she was pregnant with me.