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Kirsty
29-08-2007, 03:30 PM
BBC NEWS | Health | Smokers to face picture warnings (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6967160.stm)


Images highlighting the dangers of smoking will be printed on all tobacco products sold in the UK by the end of 2009, under regulations being set out.
Manufacturers will have to start complying from October next year.

After a public consultation 15 images, including ones of diseased lungs, have been chosen to accompany text warnings about lung cancer and heart disease.

Anti-smoking campaigners welcomed the move but smokers' lobby group Forest said they were being "victimised".

Health Secretary Alan Johnson told BBC News there was evidence from other countries that the new images would help people quit.

"We do think it will help the number of people, who want to give up to smoking - the vast majority of smokers want to give up - and this will give them an extra push," he said.

EC keen

The graphic adverts come just over a month before the minimum age for buying tobacco in England and Wales increases from 16 to 18, bringing it in line with alcohol.

As well as publishing the legislation on Wednesday, the Department of Health will unveil the 15 images - chosen from an original list of 40 - that are to be used.



The government promised it would introduce picture warnings on cigarette packets in its public health white paper in 2004 and in recent years the European Commission has been urging member countries to do so as well.

The UK is the first EU country to publish the pictures on all tobacco products.

Under the new rules, it is expected that cigarette packs with written warnings only will not be allowed on sale past September 30 next year.

For other tobacco packets, the deadline will be September 30 2009.

Ministers have said the current system of written warnings has become less effective.

'Smokers deterred'

Other countries such as Canada and Brazil have already introduced picture warnings and research shows it has been effective in raising awareness about the risks associated with smoking.

A study by Canada's University of Waterloo earlier this year found that 15% of Canadian smokers had been deterred from having a cigarette - more than double the rate in Australia and the US which had text warnings at the time of the research.

The government are bullying smokers simply because they can get away with it

Neil Rafferty
Smokers' lobby group Forest

Amanda Sandford, from anti-smoking campaigners Ash, said she hoped the chosen images would be as graphic as possible.

"Evidence from international studies is that the stronger warnings are better," she said.

But Neil Rafferty, a spokesman for smokers' lobby group Forest, described the initiative as the "victimisation" of smokers.

"You could construct exactly the same argument for placing graphic images on bottles of alcohol, but because most people like to drink alcohol, the government doesn't want to offend the majority.

"The government are bullying smokers simply because they can get away with it."

Smuggled tobacco

Adam Kirby of advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi told BBC Radio 4's Today that he was particularly "revolted" by the images of rotten teeth, which looked like "broken gravestones".

"I think it works with some people some of the time," he said. "But there's a hardcore of smokers who say 'yes, yes but I'm going to put my head in the sand'."

Professor Robert West of Cancer Research UK estimated between 5,000 - 10,000 people would stop smoking as a result of the adverts, saving around 2,500 lives a year.

But he said increasing the cost of smoking would make the biggest difference, particularly to the poorest sections of society.

"The government is facing a huge smuggling problem," he said. "Smuggled tobacco is half the price of a regular pack and 40% of tobacco is smuggled, mostly rolled tobacco.

"We need to bear down on that as much as we can."

The legislation comes weeks after England came into line with the rest of the UK by banning smoking in enclosed public places, including pubs and restaurants.



Do you think it will stop people smoking?

Shipoftheline
29-08-2007, 03:45 PM
They haven't really got a clue

stickywicket
29-08-2007, 04:53 PM
the whole smoking debate is a joke, the govt etc has knew about the problems of smoking for decades but now all of a sudden its a problem. funny coincidence that now tobacco can be imported relativley cheaply, although illegaly, in most cases avoiding tax. id love to have access to all the figures to compare the NHS health bill, regarding smoking related illnesses, to the govt revenue from smoking then compare that to "when smoking became a health issue". its a bit rich to say please dont smoke it will kill you then sell you some ciggies and profit from their sale. if i sold a drug that everyone loved, was more addictive than heroin, made me millions and that could kill you id be doing life somewhere. bout time the govt grew some danglies, stopped taking backhanders and took the tobacco companies head on. how difficult would it be to force tobacco companies to make ciggarettes less addictive, reduce the number of harmful chemicals they use and wean people off this powerful drug gradually then provide the services they need.

it amuses me reading these articles that we are led to believe the whole smoking problem can be sorted by putting some words and pictures on the boxes. they could make the boxes black, put a skull and crossbones on them and call them death sticks and people would still smoke. they took smoking out of all public places and people simply moved out into the streets, standing in pub doorways in the lashing rain, thats commitment (or addiction whichever way you want to look at it).

tobacco is a powerful drug and should be treated as such, the govt should get to the root of the problem rather than coming up with new marketing campaigns.

rant over lol

nj2006
30-08-2007, 01:56 AM
as a smoker ?3 of every ?5 i spend a day goes to the goverment for taxes. smokers are the highest tax payers in this country we fund over 80% of the nhs bill but yet if we smoke we are not intitled to some major operations. we must walk around already with a stupid logo on our packets saying smoking kills.(dont see cars with white labels with black writing on their bonetts saying if driven at excessive speed this car will kill.)we are not allowed to smoke in inclosed public places,in october how meny 16 yr olds that smoke and already addicted to nicotine are the goverment saying to it was alright to buy them last month son but this month your braking the law. this is just rediclouse now they want pictures on our packets. what next public exicution of smokers in the local village square?

this is discrimnation but yet our goverment can discrimnate agianst us smokers because we are easy targets.

you anti smokers moan and bitch about second hand smoke and how you have the right to clean air but when places opened as smoke free pubs and clubs and cafes in th end of the 90s how meny of you were supporting the local busnesses that went bust because they didnt have enough business from non smokers.

how meny old age pensioners are stuck out in the cold outside bingo halls puffing away getting funny looks and treated as outcasts. when it was them that fought 2 world wars and payed in taxes on their cigs to make the nhs what it is today.

maybe its time we made a smokers religion so then we could fight back with its agianst our riligouse rights.

REMEMBER SMOKING KILLS BUT SO DOES THE LITTLE PEDOFILE AROUND THE CORNER BUT WE AINT PUTTING PICTURES OF THEM ON LAMPOSTS AND WARNING OF THEIR WERE ABOUTS.