New smoking warning labels

• New smoking warning labels by Arnie on 21 Jun, 2011 10:41
• I saw this and had to share this link.
  
  http://beta.news.yahoo.com/fda-unveils-graphic-images-cigarette-packs-130408193.html
  
  It would great to get my Mother and Grandmother's opinion on this, but they both passed away due to smoking related complications...as stated on their death certificates.  I miss them!!!
  
  Also, Google "COPD" and educate yourself...many people have never heard of it.  But most people wouldn't like the idea of slowly suffocating themselves over time, unable to stop it.
• #1 by Razor X on 21 Jun, 2011 19:35
• I doubt that the new labels will make any difference.  It's not as if the facts haven't been out there for the last 45 years or so.  People know the risks, and some choose to take their chances anyway.
• #2 by Arnie on 22 Jun, 2011 01:25
• Quote from: Razor X on 21 Jun, 2011 19:35

  I doubt that the new labels will make any difference.  It's not as if the facts haven't been out there for the last 45 years or so.  People know the risks, and some choose to take their chances anyway.
  

  Maybe so...I know my Grandmother quit once she "knew the risks", but it was really too late.  She started because back in the day it was "the thing to do".  I think my Mother just emulated her.
  
  Anyway, I agree...people will still carry on knowing the risks(generally knowing it is bad), but will quit once the risks have caught up to them.
  
  Some risks haven't been put out there...hardly anyone knows what COPD is.  I can go on and on about that.  I've helped at least 4 people quit recently just by telling them the more detailed stories regarding my family members demise with COPD(which is listed on death certificates "due to cigarette smoking").
• #3 by buddha on 22 Jun, 2011 06:54
• Since we're on this topic anyway I wonder why it is that our "leaders" have not yet seen fit to outlaw smoking tobacco except in cases of spiritual/religious use. The argument for the war on drugs is that we need to be protected from the ravages of those demons but cigarettes kill more people every year than pot ever has.
  Is it possible that there could be a monetary angle involved?
  Would outlawing cigarettes lead to yet another black market like prohibition and the war on drugs that would lead to yet more gang related violence?
  
• #4 by Sooner Steve on 22 Jun, 2011 10:15
• It will be interesting to see if the new warnings are successful.  Many people are so addicted that they will go with the "it will never happen to me" excuse and continue to use.  Hopefully it will keep certain people from beginning smoking.
• #5 by Magoo on 23 Jun, 2011 11:37
• "A picture is worth a thousand words." I think it's worth a try.
  Budda your most likely correct about the governments no action.
• #6 by Yakangler on 30 Jun, 2011 21:48
• I seriously doubt that the labels will result in widespread smoking cessation, but wonder if this will satisfy insurance companies and medicare?  You know, now you can't say "I couldn't read the label " Everyone can see this..  There may be a time, if not already, that insurance companies will not pay for self-inflicted diseases.  Ever wonder why they're so interested in your habits?
  
  I worked in hospice care (caring for terminally ill patients) for about 5 years.  COPD death can be the most miserable, long and drawn-out, torturous death you could imagine.  Witnessed this too many times!
  
  I agree Arnie: Quit smoking now!  BTW, didn't intend to upset you in any way, but confirm and support your conviction to get people to quit smoking.
• #7 by Mikekoz13 on 01 Jul, 2011 03:59
• My Mother-in-Law, who I love dearly, has to carry an oxygen tank around because of smoking in the past. She hasn't smoked since I've known her (17 years) but the damage was already done. She proably knocked ten years off of her life.
  
  My Dad had his first heart attack on Easter Sunday when he was 42 years old and it was smoking related. He quit smoking that very day, but again, the damage was already done. He's 75 years old now and has lived with problems from past smoking for all these years.
  
  Ask my Dad what he thinks about smoking........... you'll get a stern lecture about why you shouldn't smoke...... he'll cap off the lecture by showing you all his surgery scars on his chest and legs from when he had his quadruple by pass ten years ago. Not pretty.
  
  Buddha is correct.... the government makes way too much money off of the smoking industry to put an end to it. Personally I believe that if you want to smoke, it is your choice. Just don't come back and sue the tobacco companies later and don't make the rest of us breathe your smoke. This is America and it's still your choice. A lot of us do risky things.... it's our choice.... but then you have to accept the consequences of taking those risks and not move those consequences on to society. I know this will probably not be a popular point of view.
• #8 by tomgallagher on 01 Jul, 2011 07:24
• My neighbor has cancer of the throat/larynx/voicebox and still smokes. Go figure. No I don't think the new warnings will do much good.
• #9 by D.A.L.U.I. on 01 Jul, 2011 08:17
• Nicotine is the addictive part of smoking, but it's the tars and other by-products of the burning tobacco and ingested materials--i.e. chewing tobacco--that are the main cause of diseases directly related to the use of tobacco products.  Several years ago at the peak of the litigation with tobacco companies it was demonstrated that the companies "juiced" their products to have higher percentages of the addictive substance.  Clearly there could be only one purpose--to make sure that their customer base was "loyal." 
  I would seriously doubt that any member or guest of this site doesn't have at least one member of their family or close friends who have died because of the use of these products.  For that reason, even though for many reasons the production and sale of tobacco will not be banned in this or any other country, the new warning signs at least indicate that at least something is done to warn the prospective users that these are dangerous products.  If they don't stop at the beginning, addiction can be firmly in place at an early age.  For our part, both of our girls were part of a program in their schools before high school where they were shown actual lung tissue with the effects, including cancer.  The samples were within grasp and fortunately it had the intended effect.  Any thing that can be done should be done--but as with all things and children it has to begin with the parents, everything else is welcome support for the parents' effort. 
  
• #10 by Daven on 23 Jul, 2011 20:06
• Quote from: buddha on 22 Jun, 2011 06:54

  Since we're on this topic anyway I wonder why it is that our "leaders" have not yet seen fit to outlaw smoking tobacco except in cases of spiritual/religious use. The argument for the war on drugs is that we need to be protected from the ravages of those demons but cigarettes kill more people every year than pot ever has.
  Is it possible that there could be a monetary angle involved?
  Would outlawing cigarettes lead to yet another black market like prohibition and the war on drugs that would lead to yet more gang related violence?
  
  

  
  You don't know?  Really?  It's simple. By keeping people addicted to cir's, it's BIG business and is population control. 
  
  The gov. has known for 50 years that cig's kill. BUT the single biggest contributor to presidential campaigns is tobacco. They are a HUGE HUGE HUGE lobby.  AND by keeping people smoking, people die.
  
  I have a cousin in the military. he has TOP secret security clearance.  IF big brother is monitoring this site, and I suddenly stop posting, they got me.
  
  The United States Government has cures for MOST major deadly diseases. IF they let the cures out, doctors would have nobody to treat. Insurance and drug companies would have nobody to keep shoveling the pills into. and etc. etc.
  
  Why do you think Cheney lived through so many heart attacks and Reagan didn't "get" alzhimers until after he left office?  Same with Bill Clinton having his zipper surgery after office. 
  
  I'm NOT, I swear I'm not a conspiracy theory guy, but I've seen the proof.
  
  People die and smoking is legal because it's good business and population control.
  
  I also think that someone WILL stop these warning labels from ever being printed on a single pack of cigarettes.
  
  Thanks for reading.  BTW, I quit smoking after 23 years 5 months and 18 days ago.  My DR. said when I was 21 that by 40 I would be on oxygen, I am now 42 and decided I wouldn't push the issue anymore.