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posted by martyb on Wednesday November 09 2016, @03:03AM   Printer-friendly
from the truth-in-labeling dept.

Using prominent, graphic pictures on cigarette packs warning against smoking could avert more than 652,000 deaths, up to 92,000 low birth weight infants, up to 145,000 preterm births, and about 1,000 cases of sudden infant deaths in the U.S. over the next 50 years, say researchers from Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Their study, published online Nov. 3 in the journal Tobacco Control, is the first to estimate the effects of pictorial warnings on cigarette packs on the health of both adults and infants in the U.S

Although more than 70 nations have adopted or are considering adopting the World Health Organization's Framework Convention for Tobacco Control to use such front and back of-the-pack pictorial warnings -- an example is a Brazilian photo of a father with a tracheotomy -- they have not been implemented in the US. Pictorial warnings have been required by law, but an industry lawsuit stalled implementation of this requirement. Currently, a text-only warning appears on the side of cigarette packs in the U.S.

But would such pictures deter fans of The Walking Dead ?


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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 09 2016, @08:32AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 09 2016, @08:32AM (#424412)

    Smokers have been ostracized in the US over the years. Not allowed to smoke anywhere indoors, not even in bars. Price gouge them with new taxes, etc. Now, I don't smoke, but this photo thing is just kicking an unpopular group while they are down. How about leaving them a little dignity? It's an addiction and a little photo isn't going to change it; it's just a way for society to show their disapproval.

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  • (Score: 2) by darkfeline on Wednesday November 09 2016, @06:26PM

    by darkfeline (1030) on Wednesday November 09 2016, @06:26PM (#424784) Homepage

    A little photo IS going to change it, that's the point of this proposal and the studies that motivated it.

    This isn't about nonsmokers kicking smokers for fun. Nonsmokers will forget about this picture ten minutes after the conversation; spoilers, we do not regularly go find tobacco products and masturbate over how bad the packaging would make smokers feel.

    I agree that there could be a more socially friendly way of helping smokers off their poison.

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Immerman on Wednesday November 09 2016, @10:51PM

    by Immerman (3985) on Wednesday November 09 2016, @10:51PM (#424893)

    You may be right that a picture won't do a whole lot to get an addict off their addiction, though it may help make the battle a little easier for those who struggling to quit.

    On the other hand, it will probably make tobacco a lot less appealing for those young adults who are considering taking up the habit. The current generation may be lost to their addiction, but isn't it worth helping the next generation avoid the same fate?