United Canadian States of America?

[Obama 2012 1,714]

looking more and more like Canada here every day, bleh....

So stupid really. The FDA is getting absurd with this ####### just as Canada has been for awhile now.

Putting them out of sight, can't call them 'lights' anymore, adding bigger warnings, pictures on the packaging...

------------------

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-sci-1111-cigarette-packages-20101111,0,5986780.story

In the first major change to cigarette packaging in a quarter-century, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it will require graphic warning labels that cover half a package's front and rear and the top 20% of all cigarette ads.

The labels will feature either drawings or photos illustrating graphically the dangers associated with smoking and will be accompanied by text stating that smoking is addictive or that it kills. The pictures are not quite as grim as some used in other countries, but regulators hope they will be sufficiently frightening to keep young people from beginning to smoke and to strengthen the will of those who are attempting to quit.

"We want to make sure every person who picks up a pack of cigarettes knows exactly what the risk is they are taking," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said at a news conference.

Current regulations require only a written warning on the edge of the cigarette pack and a similar, small warning at the bottom of ads.

The FDA is currently looking at 36 different potential labels, which can be viewed at http://www.fda.gov/downloads/TobaccoProducts/Labeling/CigaretteProductWarningLabels/UCM232425.pdf. The agency will select nine of them by June 22, 2011, and cigarette manufacturers must begin putting them on packages and advertising by Sept. 22, 2011. By Oct. 22, 2011, manufacturers will no longer be able to distribute cigarettes that do not bear the new warnings.

Federal agencies have been concerned that smoking rates, which declined from about 42% in 1965 to just under 21% in 2004, have remained flat since then. "That's bad news," Sebelius said. "Every day, 4,000 young people try cigarettes for the first time and 1,000 continue to smoke."

An estimated 450,000 Americans die prematurely as a result of smoking-related disease every year and 8 million suffer chronic diseases at a cost to the economy of $100 billion annually. Most of those deaths are preventable. The goal of the new actions by the Department of Health and Human Services is to bring the smoking rate down to 12% by 2020.

A key step was the passage of "historic legislation" last June that, for the first time, gave the FDA power to regulate tobacco products. Since then, the agency has taken a number of steps, including banning the practices of giving out free samples, halting advertising in youth-oriented magazines, and banning misleading terms like "light," "low-tar" and "mild" from advertising.

Medicare has also changed its rules so that smoking cessation products are available to any beneficiaries who want them, not just those who have lung disease, as was the previous practice.

"There is still a long way to go to reduce the enormous burden of death and disability, but we can make progress," said Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, FDA commissioner.

[The_Dude 1,142]

This is what you're outraged about today paul? I do think the warnings are a bit stupid. Seriously, how many people who have just bought a pack of cigarettes bother to look at any warnings or labels? Slap on a $2 per pack federal tax on all cigarettes, then people will get the message.

[^_^ 5,021]

April 21, 2010

The Oklahoma Senate passed five abortion bills Monday night, which opponents have said will severely limit a woman's ability to get an abortion and would entail some of the strictest anti-abortion measures in the country.

One of the bills would force a woman to get an ultrasound at least one hour prior to an abortion and be shown the image and given a detailed explanation of it, even if she wishes otherwise.

More information is good, right, RWNs?

[Obama 2012 1,714]

This is what you're outraged about today paul? I do think the warnings are a bit stupid. Seriously, how many people who have just bought a pack of cigarettes bother to look at any warnings or labels? Slap on a $2 per pack federal tax on all cigarettes, then people will get the message.

Cigarette prices are up in many areas by $3 a pack due to such taxes alone in the past few years.... They still sell decently...

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Yeh, it's looking a lot more like a sarky 1988 letter written to a US-based newsmagazine (can't remember whether Time or Newsweek) "Canada already has 10 provinces it can't deal with--and we don't need 50 more!".

Edited November 10, 2010 by Saddle Bronc

[Krikit 1,165]

My favourite pic on Canadian cigarettes is the one with the drooping ash and a warning that cigarettes can cause impotence. lol

[mawilson 2,133]

April 21, 2010

The Oklahoma Senate passed five abortion bills Monday night, which opponents have said will severely limit a woman's ability to get an abortion and would entail some of the strictest anti-abortion measures in the country.

One of the bills would force a woman to get an ultrasound at least one hour prior to an abortion and be shown the image and given a detailed explanation of it, even if she wishes otherwise.

More information is good, right, RWNs?

Wrong thread?

[Ban Hammer 13,509]

This is what you're outraged about today paul? I do think the warnings are a bit stupid. Seriously, how many people who have just bought a pack of cigarettes bother to look at any warnings or labels? Slap on a $2 per pack federal tax on all cigarettes, then people will get the message.

you want to reduce taxes on cigs?

[The_Dude 1,142]

you want to reduce taxes on cigs?

Charles you know what I meant. So this is how you get such a high post count

[Ban Hammer 13,509]

Charles you know what I meant. So this is how you get such a high post count

i'll have to cancel your presidential campaign now. i was gonna vote for you based on that

[The_Dude 1,142]

i'll have to cancel your presidential campaign now. i was gonna vote for you based on that

Back to work Charles. I don't want my tax dollars to be wasted.

[scandal 951]

Why do this? Um, maybe because it works? Preventing non-smokers from starting to smoke, and getting smokers to consider quitting.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/62219.php

Writing in the article, David Hammond, PhD, states, "This study suggests that more prominent health warnings are associated with greater levels of awareness and perceived effectiveness among smokers. In particular, the findings provide strong support for the effectiveness of new health warnings implemented on UK packages that were enhanced to meet the minimum international standards...UK smokers were also more likely to report that the new warnings had led them to think about quitting, to think about the health risks of smoking, and had deterred them from having a cigarette compared to Australian and US smokers. Although the findings provide strong support for the effectiveness of prominent text warnings that meet the minimum international standards, the findings also suggest that larger pictorial warnings may have an even greater impact: data collected two and a half years after the implementation of the Canadian pictorial warnings and two and a half years after the implementation of the new UK warnings indicate that the Canadian warnings had impact levels at or above the UK warnings for each of the measures examined in the survey.

[Ban Hammer 13,509]

Back to work Charles. I don't want my tax dollars to be wasted.

actually i wrote that at home. now i'm at work.

[sly_wolf 199]

As a former smoker and someone who has been exposed to all that nonsense I can say the reason that I quiet had absolutely nothing to do with those stupid pictures or prices. Raising taxes does not do anything except make it lucrative for criminals.

Smoking is an additiction and you wont kick the habit until you are ready to do so ..... period. I still do miss it the odd time.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

When I lived in Canada I would get one of the cigarette pack "sleeves" with a relatively benign photo and use it until it wore out! I threw away the more disgusting photos.

Oh. well, I quit smoking. Not for my health but as a form of government and tax protest!

Edited November 11, 2010 by Gary and Alla