New F.D.A. Graphic Labeling Could Deter Teen Would-be Smokers.
In an effort to reduce the amount of cigarette smokers, the Federal Government has chosen nine different images which will be on each and every pack starting in 2012. The images are blunt, and graphic, depicting cancerous lungs, and mouths, as well as an autopsy recipient and others. They will be required to cover the top half of the front and back of the packs.
Many people believe this will be of no assistance because smoker’s already know what their habit may cause, however, for some the realism could be a wake up call that will make them pull their heads out of the sand. It is one thing to read a textual warning, and quite another to see the devastation each time you purchase cigarettes or go on a smoke break. The F.D.A. Center For Tobacco Products is estimating a decrease of 213,000 smokers by the year 2013. This estimate is made in part by the information received from other nations currently using this scare method.
As someone who lost 3 grandparents, and various other family members who were smokers, I feel very strongly about my own children not smoking. I want them to know what it is and what it does before they are considering starting to smoke. Although people start for various reasons, peer pressure is one indicated reason for impressionable teens to start smoking. Exposing them to the images of what actually happens on the packs and getting the images out into the public eye in a more widespread manner, may give teens prior knowledge they can lean on when offered a cigarette. I would venture to say it is going to be hard to look "cool" when you are handing someone a smoke from a pack bearing the picture of rotted, cancerous lungs.
The average young person in America today most likely sees worse images in the commercials for the horror movies coming out and forensic tv shows on every night. Yet knowing it is truly possible to get these illnesses, and what trauma they actually cause, could help to halt new users and de-glamorize the stigma of smoking. Currently smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Hopefully seeing the true outcome will help to deter new and ongoing smokers, including out nation's youth.
Images courtesy of Google Images
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