Faillace 1 Martina Faillace ENC 1101 Mariko Turk 11/11/10 Smokers Smoking cigarettes is a habit that has been

around for hundreds of years. We all must have known that smoking probably wasnt the best thing for our health but we didnt have the technology in the past to help us confirm that the use of tobacco was a direct cause of cancer. Now that we are well aware of the fact that smoking affects our organs and literally kills us, people continue to smoke anyway. Last year, the F.D.A was given the power to regulate tobacco products for the first time. In the New York Times article, F.D.A. Unveils Proposed Graphic Warning Labels for Cigarette Packs, Gardiner Harris explains how the F.D.A has decided to put picture labels over the cigarette packs and is intended to be a graphic reminder for tobacco users. Putting these graphic pictures on cigarette packs is useless because it wont make smokers stop smoking, it will only encourage them to find ways of hiding these pictures. In recent years, anti-smoking efforts have slowed down. With this new idea of placing graphic pictures on cigarette packs, they are making an effort to re-energize the anti-smoking campaign. The F.D.A is hoping that by placing these pictures on the cigarette packs, they will reduce the amount of cigarette smokers in the United States. In the United States, about 20.6 percent of the nations adults, or 46.6 million people, and about 19.5 percent of high school students, or 3.4 million teenagers, are smokers (Harris). This is a very large number of the population that consider themselves to be smokers. Many people are dying daily because of the affect that cigarette smoking has but this doesnt seem to come across the millions of people that still choose to smoke regularly. We have to find a way to help these people stop smoking, but placing graphic pictures on cigarette packs isnt the best way of doing this.

Faillace 2 On January 11, 1964 Surgeon Luther Terry was the first to say that smoking was a direct cause of lung cancer, heart disease, and emphysema (Durand). Then on May 27, 2004 the US Surgeon General Richard H. Carmon released a new report on smoking and health, revealing for the first time that smoking causes diseases in nearly every organ of the body (Durand). This was the first time that people actually heard that smoking could cause them problems with their health that would eventually kill them. Youd think that this would make people want to quit smoking instantly, but it isnt that easy. About 15 billion cigarettes are sold daily. This means that there are 10 million sold every minute (Martin). This shows just how large the smoking population really is. Governments all over the world are trying to find a solution to reduce the amount of smokers in the world. They have tried many different ways to do this but none have come close to eliminating the use of tobacco amongst people. The United States was amongst the first to try and reduce the smoking population. The United States was the first country to require tobacco products to bear health warnings (Harris). Now, all cigarette packages sold in the country have warnings on them that say Surgeon Generals Warning: smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, Emphysema, and may complicate pregnancy (Harris). All cigarette packs in the United States must contain these warnings. The warnings on the cigarette have proven to be ineffective because there is still a large number of the population that smokes. Now, the F.D.A is going to try out the idea of placing graphic pictures on the cigarette packs to try and scare people away from smoking. Even though this may cause a few people to quit smoking, it will still not be effective because people wont just quit. Theyve seen commercials and advertisements with people suffering from the effects of tobacco, but all this does is make people see horrible images of others suffering. People who are truly

Faillace 3 addicted to nicotine will not just quit smoking after seeing these images. They may think about quitting but they wont actually do it. Placing graphic images on all cigarette packs has been proven to be ineffective in other countries. The governments in many European and South American countries have put these images on the cigarette packs they sell but people buy them anyway. There are 39 other countries [that] have gone well beyond such brief warnings and now require large, graphic depictions of smokings effects (Harris). Several countries around the world have already started placing what the United States is planning on putting on cigarette packs. These labels are intended to spur smokers to quit by providing graphic reminders of tobaccos dangers (Harris). This really isnt the case. The use of graphic warnings makes no contribution to the awareness of these risks and serves only to stigmatize smokers and denormalize smoking, said Anthony Hemsley, a vice president at Commonweath Brands, the maker of USA Gold cigarettes. He is right in the sense that we cant expect people to stop smoking by simply looking at a picture of a suffering person. Some health officials said that there was some evidence that the most gruesome images, while memorable, are dismissed sooner by smokers (Harris). This is true because these images may make smokers feel sorry for them but in reality, these images will just remind the smoker of cigarettes and make them crave cigarettes even more. When the United States finally puts these warning pictures on all cigarette packets, all it will do is embarrass the smoker. This embarrassment wont make them quit smoking; it will simply make them find a way to hide these images. For example, the UKs Guardian newspaper reported that stickers are being sold with humorous messages on them to replace the undesirable ones placed by the government. Some of these stickers say things like Lets share a smoke, or

Faillace 4 How about a fag and a drink? (Jackson). In France, theyve made some cardboard cigarette cases that are more subtle. The ones produced by the French firm Dolmen are decorated with flower patterns or, perhaps, a portrait of Che Guevara (Jackson). If the government keeps telling people to stop smoking and embarrassing them, this will make them want to do it more and smokers will find a way around it. They will find a way to make it seem even cooler and for teenagers it will be more rebellious. We have seen that these warning pictures have been ineffective in other countries; so what makes us think that it will work in The United States? Instead of putting graphic images on cigarette packages like other countries have done, the United States should try to find a different approach to reducing the amount of smokers. There is no way to make people stop smoking. Making people feel embarrassed about smoking is not a good way to deal with this situation. We have to find a way to get the message across without making people feel like theyre outsiders. We should let each person do whatever they want. They are well aware of the effects of smoking tobacco. If someone wants to stop smoking, they will. There is nothing that anybody can really do to make them stop. The fact that the F.D.A wants to place graphic images on cigarette packages is not going to help the situation and it is a useless thing to do because smokers will find a way to smoke anyway.

Faillace 5 Works Cited Jackson, Patrick. "BBC NEWS | Europe | Smokers Rebel over Cigarette Warnings." BBC News Home. 01 Oct. 2003. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3155630.stm>. Martin, By Terry. "Global Smoking Statistics." Quit Smoking | Quit Smoking Support | Smoking Cessation. 28 Jan. 2007. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. <http://quitsmoking.about.com/cs/antismoking/a/statistics.htm> . Durand, Mike. "When Did We Know About The Effects Of Cigarette Smoking." Free Articles Directory | Submit Articles - ArticlesBase.com. 24 Feb. 2007. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. <http://www.articlesbase.com/quit-smoking-articles/when-did-we-know-about-theeffects-of-cigarette-smoking-109190.html>. Gardiner, Harris. "F.D.A. Unveils Proposed Graphic Warning Labels for Cigarette Packs." The New York Times. The New York Times, 10/11/2010. Web. 10 Nov 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/11/health/policy/11tobacco.html?_r=1>.