An article on how the Food and Drug Administration wants to put graphic labels on cigarette packages caught my eye. The FDA is starting a new campaign, in which cigarette companies would have to have graphic pictures of lung cancer, rotten gums and teeth, and slogans such as “ I Cause Cancer” on the top of the cigarette package.
I understand that smoking causes cancer and as much publicity and public service announcements about smoking and the risks of cancer there are out there I think having to put these graphic pictures on the packages is ridiculous. Tobacco companies have worked with the FDA for years in making sure they put warnings on their packages and the warnings are fairly large and are not hidden. This is a way for the FDA to bully the tobacco companies. Don’t misunderstand me, I think smoking is bad for the body and I would not recommend anyone to smoke.
“It acts as a very public billboard because you all of the sudden are reading something about lung cancer from that pack behind the cash register, whereas before you were just reading ‘Marlboro,'” said David Hammond, a health behavior researcher at the University of Waterloo in Canada, who is working with the firm designing the labels for the FDA (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101111/ap_on_bi_ge/us_fda_tobacco;_ylt=AvenmI1RU8ufDWjiYUZnqd3VJRIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJmcnJydjBxBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAxMTExL3VzX2ZkYV90b2JhY2NvBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMgRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNmZWRzcHJvcG9zZWc-).
I think as adults, which one has to be 18-years-old to buy cigarettes, we already know the risks of smoking and the effects it can and most likely will have on our lives. If the FDA is going to make the tobacco industry put these graphic pictures on their product then shouldn’t the alcohol industry be putting pictures of car wrecks caused by drunk drivers and damaged livers on their bottles; should McDonalds be placing pictures of clogged arteries and obesity warnings on their menus?
I think the FDA should not set double standards, we get it, smoking is bad for you, it causes cancer, heart disease, tooth and gum disease, and other health problems.
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