Where there's smoke . . .

[Perknose]

In Australia, starting in 2012, all cigarette packages will feature little more than a big pic of a diseased lung and the brand name of the freedom sticks within!

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/at-last-truth-in-cigarette-advertising-20100429-ttkh.html

Breath of fresh air or a real drag?

 

[Tristicus]

When there's smoke, there's fire, where there's fire there's flames, where there's flames there's Chronic, either you high or you ain't.

Oh, and this is great (funny sort of great). Though if you don't know this by now...

 

[ElFenix]

i'll bet it doesn't deter smoking at all. may increase sales of cigarette cases though.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Meh. NZ and Aus are raising taxes on cigarettes as well, did you miss that? It's all good IMO.

 

[Fear No Evil]

I wonder if we ever legalize pot if there will be a guy without a job eating cheetos on the pack?

 

[Kappo]

Meh. NZ and Aus are raising taxes on cigarettes as well, did you miss that? It's all good IMO.

Sorry, you can package them any way you like. People will still buy them. Taxing them isnt any better than taxing what a government official deems "bad for you", like, soda. Or red meat, or non-free range chicken, or socks with dye in them.

Its not that I mind someone having to pay extra for stuff like that, but they either need to keep it equal, or get rid of it. I dont see them overtaxing fatties (which kills WAY more people that cancer sticks). Although, they sure are trying here in the US

 

[bfdd]

As a smoker I personally don't give a flying fuck what is on the box. People can tell me all the time "those will kill you" or "do you know how bad those are for you?" OBVIOUSLY I FUCKING DO AND I STILL CHOOSE TO FUCKING SMOKE! Look I don't care if you don't like tobacco, I'm still going to smoke it. I enjoy it, the Australians I know who smoke are the same way they just don't give a fuck. What they do care about though is already paying something like 15 dollars(USD) a PACK, that's just outrageous. Now they're currently thinking of raising the taxes on it again and putting it somewhere around 20 bucks a pack. Get ready to start seeing a bunch of crack down on smugglers now.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Ciggies do cause health problems and there are a whole lot of people who want them banned.

To be the gadfly, I think that if one has the position that tobacco ought to be banned they should support the continued illegality of pot because that has health issues too. Weight gain happens, and that's a proven killer. If health is the issue, then both are bad and the same attitude be taken towards both.

I wonder if that's really the case?

I'm not taking any position here, just a random thought on consistency.

 

[ShawnD1]

I wonder if we ever legalize pot if there will be a guy without a job eating cheetos on the pack?

It would be fun to think of ideas for this.
Warning: weed contributes to obesity (picture of fat ugly woman)

They put picture warnings on Canadian cigarettes and it does nothing to stop sales. In Edmonton, it isn't even legal to have cigarettes for sale in plain site - they need to be under a counter that you can't see through or in a cabinet you can't see through. What the fuck? Who comes up with these stupid laws. If you want to ban them, let's hold a vote on it and move on. This pretend ban on cigarettes is insulting to everyone's intelligence.

Its not that I mind someone having to pay extra for stuff like that, but they either need to keep it equal, or get rid of it. I dont see them overtaxing fatties (which kills WAY more people that cancer sticks). Although, they sure are trying here in the US

I'm not sure you're aware of this but heart disease will get you regardless of how fat you are. You know how your grandparents died from heart attacks even when they were skinny as hell? Yeah, that was heart disease. Most of the people around me who die are dying from heart disease, and most of them are skinny. My great aunt was skinny and died from a heart attack. Both of my grandmas died from heart attacks. Larry King is skinny as hell and he nearly died from a heart attack in 1987 - a quintuple bypass saved him.

I know you didn't explicitly say heart disease, but it's the #1 killer (yay we beat smallpox) and people seem to think being fat causes heart attacks. It probably does, but being skinny doesn't mean you won't have a heart attack. Example:
fat = heart attack at 50
not fat = heart attack at age 60
BOTH groups will have very high rates of heart disease. One group just sees it sooner.

 

[woolfe9999]

As a smoker I personally don't give a flying fuck what is on the box. People can tell me all the time "those will kill you" or "do you know how bad those are for you?" OBVIOUSLY I FUCKING DO AND I STILL CHOOSE TO FUCKING SMOKE! Look I don't care if you don't like tobacco, I'm still going to smoke it. I enjoy it, the Australians I know who smoke are the same way they just don't give a fuck. What they do care about though is already paying something like 15 dollars(USD) a PACK, that's just outrageous. Now they're currently thinking of raising the taxes on it again and putting it somewhere around 20 bucks a pack. Get ready to start seeing a bunch of crack down on smugglers now.

I smoked for 10 years (2 packs a day). I quit 3 months ago and took up e-cigarettes as an alternative way to imbibe nicotine which actually mimics smoking very well. Those, BTW, are banned in Australia and starting to be banned in the US because they compete with Big Pharma's crappy nicotine replacement products which hardly ever help people quit, and we can't allow a product on the market that competes with Big Pharma.

Anyway, I did actually quit cigs because of the added cost from the tax. It was getting to where it cost me $12 a day to smoke, and that was pretty much the last straw. So I guess the tax they put on it may have saved my life.

I do agree with you though. It's our business whether we choose to smoke or not.

That packaging is effing ludicrous, BTW. You educate people with information, not scare tactics.

- wolf

 

[bfdd]

I smoked for 10 years (2 packs a day). I quit 3 months ago and took up e-cigarettes as an alternative way to imbibe nicotine which actually mimics smoking very well. Those, BTW, are banned in Australia and starting to be banned in the US because they compete with Big Pharma's crappy nicotine replacement products which hardly ever help people quit, and we can't allow a product on the market that competes with Big Pharma.

Anyway, I did actually quit cigs because of the added cost from the tax. It was getting to where it cost me $12 a day to smoke, and that was pretty much the last straw. So I guess the tax they put on it may have saved my life.

I do agree with you though. It's our business whether we choose to smoke or not.

That packaging is effing ludicrous, BTW. You educate people with information, not scare tactics.

- wolf

I went from 2 a day to 1 a day. I'm down to about half a pack a day now when I'm not sharing cigs. I switched brands to American Spirit which I'm happy for, 25% more tobacco per cig, but it takes me almost 100% longer to smoke a cig. At home I find myself putting it out half way and picking it back up later. They cost a bit more, but I'm saving myself some money by switching 5.30 for my old parliament lights to 6.25 for American Spirit.

 

[ShawnD1]

I smoked for 10 years (2 packs a day). I quit 3 months ago and took up e-cigarettes as an alternative way to imbibe nicotine which actually mimics smoking very well. Those, BTW, are banned in Australia and starting to be banned in the US because they compete with Big Pharma's crappy nicotine replacement products which hardly ever help people quit

The bolded part is a misunderstanding. Deep down I think all of us understand (without being told) that quitting nicotine was never the point. The point is stop smoking. Most people understand that nicotine is bad for you (people who chew still get mouth cancer), but it's important to understand that smoke is bad for you. I don't mean inhaling so much smoke that you die in a burning building, but inhaling smoke every day in itself causes cancer. People in poor countries who burn wood in their house to cook things and are exposed to large amounts of smoke from that burning wood often die from lung cancer. It's not nicotine killing them - it's just smoke. Smoke is bad. No exceptions.

You educate people with information, not scare tactics.

Which part of the package is misleading or not factual? As far as I know, the crazy shit on cigarette packs is all true
-smoking does cause cancer
-smoking can contribute to impotence (other factors are involved)
-smoking while pregnant is bad
-cigarettes really do cause a lot of house fires
-smoking really does make you smell like shit

The smoking while pregnant warning should also be on inhalers and nicotine patches. Stimulant drugs really fuck with a baby's nervous system. Pregnant women are often explicitly told not to drink coffee while pregnant

 

[woolfe9999]

I went from 2 a day to 1 a day. I'm down to about half a pack a day now when I'm not sharing cigs. I switched brands to American Spirit which I'm happy for, 25% more tobacco per cig, but it takes me almost 100% longer to smoke a cig. At home I find myself putting it out half way and picking it back up later. They cost a bit more, but I'm saving myself some money by switching 5.30 for my old parliament lights to 6.25 for American Spirit.

I used to smoke Marlboro reds, 2 packs a day. Switched to Wildhorse for the last few months before quitting because I could get them cheap by the carton. As it turned out, e-cig vapor is much tastier than cig smoke and lacks the carcinogens. I haven't wanted a cig since day 1 of switching.

Half pack a day isn't too bad at all BTW. I doubt I could ever have gotten down that low.

- wolf

 

[woolfe9999]

The bolded part is a misunderstanding. Deep down I think all of us understand (without being told) that quitting nicotine was never the point. The point is stop smoking. Most people understand that nicotine is bad for you (people who chew still get mouth cancer), but it's important to understand that smoke is bad for you. I don't mean inhaling so much smoke that you die in a burning building, but inhaling smoke every day in itself causes cancer. People in poor countries who burn wood in their house to cook things and are exposed to large amounts of smoke from that burning wood often die from lung cancer. It's not nicotine killing them - it's just smoke. Smoke is bad. No exceptions.


Which part of the package is misleading or not factual? As far as I know, the crazy shit on cigarette packs is all true
-smoking does cause cancer
-smoking can contribute to impotence (other factors are involved)
-smoking while pregnant is bad
-cigarettes really do cause a lot of house fires
-smoking really does make you smell like shit

The smoking while pregnant warning should also be on inhalers and nicotine patches. Stimulant drugs really fuck with a baby's nervous system. Pregnant women are often explicitly told not to drink coffee while pregnant

Yes you're basically correct, but nicotine alone is only slightly harmful to your health. It isn't much more harmful than caffeine (both are vaso constrictors), though it is certainly very addictive. The reason people who chew have elevated risk of mouth cancer is because tobacco has carcinogens in it, but nicotine itself, which is one chemical of many in tobacco, is not a carcinogen. Still, chew is much safer than smoke, as 98% of the carcinogens in smoke are byproducts of combustion and are not present in non-combusted tobacco.

Tobacco use was actually not a real health problem in this country until the early 20th century when they invented the cigarette rolling machine. Prior to that, people chewed, and some smoked pipes and/or cigars, but pipes and cigars tend not to be smoked as compulsively as cigarettes, and the smoke tends not to be inhaled.

Anyway, my point about the packaging is that you can tell people about the risks. But ugly pictures are meant as scare tactics, to appeal to people's emotions. That kind of pitch causes a cultural hysteria where anti-smoking becomes more of a religion than a health issue. And that, in turn, has caused other problems.

- wolf

 

[werepossum]

I wonder if we ever legalize pot if there will be a guy without a job eating cheetos on the pack?

LOL Yeah, eating Cheetos in his mom's basement.

 

[bfdd]

I used to smoke Marlboro reds, 2 packs a day. Switched to Wildhorse for the last few months before quitting because I could get them cheap by the carton. As it turned out, e-cig vapor is much tastier than cig smoke and lacks the carcinogens. I haven't wanted a cig since day 1 of switching.

Half pack a day isn't too bad at all BTW. I doubt I could ever have gotten down that low.

- wolf

The thing is I can easily sit down and chain smoke a whole pack, it doesn't bother me. I just don't like smoking that much most the time, sometimes I'll have 2 or 3 in a row, but I generally keep it to 1 then go back to doing whatever I was doing. I haven't tried the e-cig yet mainly because I've met a few people who had them and every time I've asked them how they like it they tell me a little bit about it then ask if they can bum a smoke off me.

 

[Genx87]

This will finally get those smokers to quit!

To quote Denis Leary from "No cure for cancer". "You fucking dolt".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zAeW8z1O9E&feature=related

Go to about 4:50 and listen. Even says they can put tumors right on the box lol

 

[woolfe9999]

The thing is I can easily sit down and chain smoke a whole pack, it doesn't bother me. I just don't like smoking that much most the time, sometimes I'll have 2 or 3 in a row, but I generally keep it to 1 then go back to doing whatever I was doing. I haven't tried the e-cig yet mainly because I've met a few people who had them and every time I've asked them how they like it they tell me a little bit about it then ask if they can bum a smoke off me.

Some vapors still smoke the occasional "analog" cig out of nostalgia. Some still smoke a few a day. Most don't smoke at all any more, but we aren't above the occasional thought of it. I think if I went back to smoking, I'd be bumming vapes off of people. The two habits intersect a lot, but are not identical. It's mainly the smell you don't get from vaping.

- wolf

 

[woolfe9999]

LOL Yeah, eating Cheetos in his mom's basement.

Yup and in the photo, the bag of cheetohs will have a picture of an enormously obese person on it. After all, that is the direction where all of this is headed.

- wolf

 

[ShawnD1]

Anyway, my point about the packaging is that you can tell people about the risks. But ugly pictures are meant as scare tactics, to appeal to people's emotions. That kind of pitch causes a cultural hysteria where anti-smoking becomes more of a religion than a health issue. And that, in turn, has caused other problems.

They do it because words don't really mean anything if you don't understand the words. I still don't really understand what cancer is or why it's bad. Wikipedia says cancer is when cells grow at an uncontrolled rate. Why is that bad? A small picture gives a much better understanding of what the long term use of this product does. Even if you don't know what cancer is, you look at the picture and know this is really bad.

Also, you're right about nicotine. I heard it caused cancer but that's likely a misinterpretation of something that person read. Here is what wikipedia says:

The carcinogenic properties of nicotine in standalone form, separate from tobacco smoke, have not been evaluated by the IARC, and it has not been assigned to an official carcinogen group. The currently available literature indicates that nicotine, on its own, does not promote the development of cancer in healthy tissue and has no mutagenic properties. However, nicotine and the increased cholinergic activity it causes have been shown to impede apoptosis, which is one of the methods by which the body destroys unwanted cells (programmed cell death). Since apoptosis helps to remove mutated or damaged cells that may eventually become cancerous, the inhibitory actions of nicotine may create a more favourable environment for cancer to develop, though this also remains to be proven.

Interesting. So it indirectly contributes to cancer but does not cause it (theoretically).

 

[woolfe9999]

They do it because words don't really mean anything if you don't understand the words. I still don't really understand what cancer is or why it's bad. Wikipedia says cancer is when cells grow at an uncontrolled rate. Why is that bad? A small picture gives a much better understanding of what the long term use of this product does. Even if you don't know what cancer is, you look at the picture and know this is really bad.

Also, you're right about nicotine. I heard it caused cancer but that's likely a misinterpretation of something that person read. Here is what wikipedia says:

Interesting. So it indirectly contributes to cancer but does not cause it (theoretically).

Yes I have read that as well. It's theoretical. There is no empirical evidence that nicotine alone causes cancer. There are people who have been using gum, inhalers and/or losanges for over a decade, also rat studies, etc. So far, nothing.

I can't believe you need a picture to tell you that cancer will kill you, but YMMV I guess.

- wolf

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

My particular poison is a good cigar. Fortunately it's not the crap shoot to find one it had been.

 

[dmcowen674]

In Australia, starting in 2012, all cigarette packages will feature little more than a big pic of a diseased lung and the brand name of the freedom sticks within!

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/at-last-truth-in-cigarette-advertising-20100429-ttkh.html

Breath of fresh air or a real drag?

I just lost my sister in law to smoking and lung cancer.

I normally don't agree with Aussies version of overbearing Government but in this case I applaud them.

http://www.mcowen.com/images/memorial page/Adkinson Memorial Page.htm

Miss you Sandi

 

[ebaycj]

I wonder if we ever legalize pot if there will be a guy without a job eating cheetos on the pack?

Nah, they'll probably feature doctors, engineers, DBA's, and lawyers. I know a fair amount of all of the above and most of them toke up.

Hell, most of the people I know, 30 and under, toke up. And most of them are really successful in their careers.

 

[ShawnD1]

Nah, they'll probably feature doctors, engineers, DBA's, and lawyers. I know a fair amount of all of the above and most of them toke up.

Hell, most of the people I know, 30 and under, toke up. And most of them are really successful in their careers.

It should show a guy who can't find his phone. I know a lot of stoners in stable jobs but they all seem to have problems with losing things. My one friends will lose his phone in my car several times in the same night. Then he'll ask if I have a lighter because he can't find his.