health warnings

[paulz]

yes I know it's a disgusting, filthy habit; but ask any addict who will also say that they enjoy a cigarette - otherwise they wouldn't smoke. Do the new health warnings make any difference to you? There's apparently EC plans to up the impact of these to include x-rays, photos of diseased lungs, amputated limbs etc. Reaction anyone?

[boognish76]

I'm not a smoker but I don't think warnings about cancer and other diseases make much difference to smokers for one simple reason - they don't belive it will happen to them. Non-smokers are no different. We all know that we could die in a car accident everytime we go on the roads but if we actually believed it could happen we'd never get in our cars. It's a basic human condition - we all KNOW we're going to die but we don't really BELIEVE it. I think the only way smokers are influenced to give up is through their own personal experiences - their own illness or that of someone they know, their financial situation, etc.

[answerbok]

yes, what about psychosomatics and autosuggestion; could these huge scary banners E.G. 'SMOKING CAUSES CANCER' actually increase the incidence of cancer? And �50 fine for dropping a fag end now? What about the penniless soul who relied on those cigarette butts?

[gilf]

I think its all a bit hipocritical, why well do they have health warnings on Heroin?, no becase the stuff is just band. If cigarettes are so bad for you then the government should just stop you buying them, yes its difficult to give up but there are no serious medical side effects like you would if you suddenly gave up heroin. My opinion is that most drugs should be avaliable at specialist controlled shops but thats a whole different issue. I think everybody who smokes knows its bad for them and making the warnings bigger or including pictures etc will have little effect in my opinion.

[d+dwidow]

When I smoked, yes I knew it was bad for me and yes i'd seen all the pictures and x-rays (i used to work in an x-ray dept at our local hospital) but it never scared me into wanting to quit. The only thing that stopped me smoking was the fact that i developed M.E and every time i smoked a cigarette it felt as if i was being poisoned (which I was but i'd never experienced the feeling before) and quit instantly. What I find hard to understand is how smokers can sue tobacco companies when they develop lung cancer....it was their decision to smoke, all the warnings were there, they just chose to ignore them. It is the whole 'it wont happen to me' mentality as you say.

[DavidUK]

I knew someone who was told by his doctor that his smoking was affecting his circulation and that, if he continued, he would lose his leg. He ignored this warning, continued to smoke, and had his leg amputated. The doctor then warned him that, if he carried on smoking, his other leg was at risk. He still continued to smoke and subsequently had his other leg amputated. Unbelievable, isn't it? But it is true.

[gilf]

In answer to d+dwidow the basic facts of the people vs smoking companies is that during the 50's smoking was shown as having health benefits etc and it wasnt till the late 60's that the true health risks were made public . However the cigarette companies knew they were no good for anybody and just kept quite about it. Thats the whole basis of the case not that cigarettes are bad and the company is responsible but that they knew they were bad but decicded not to tell anybody. Nobody who started to smoke and continued to smoke after the news became public would be able to sue and thats why its only ever been done on a few occassions. I still think its silly but that puts it into a little more context.

[d+dwidow]

thank you gilf I didn't realise that these warning labels hadn't been on packets then - that's understandable then. David UK when working in the hospital there was a guy there who did the exact same thing and then after his second amputation he was still out in the corridors puffing away.

[Janetex]

Try this.... Stand up all who partake of the most widely abused drug in the western world (caffeine); now those whose ignorance of cholestorol and triglyceride levels has them primed for stroke/heart attack; now all those whose diet high in meat and low in fibre has them headed for bowel/stomach cancer; and stand up all those who have three or more poisonous substances in their cupboards. Without going any further, I presume that the only ones left sitting are the hapless, legless smokers. :)

[paulz]

Thanks all, I guess next our Nanny state will put warnings on Alcohol, wine & beer [drinking this may lead to falling over] for a light hearted bit of amusement try www.fakefags.co.uk