Thread: Are Tobacco Warning Labels Effective?

There not efective. If they where then nobody would smoke.

Originally Posted by Shadow wraith

To me, I think that the warnings do nothing, because smokers obviously don't pay enough attention to see these warnings, or simply don't care about the chances of them getting cancer the next day and eventually dying.

I keep seeing this. Obviously this, obviously that. First, though, let me say that the warning labels do not help.

Being an ex-smoker myself, let me tell you why. The people most aware of what they're doing to themselves are the smokers. Do smokers care? Of course! So why keep doing it? Nicotine is one of the most psychologicaly addicting drugs on the planet. It's not the physical withdrawals that get you, it's the cravings, and that's all up in the ol' noggin.

Nicotine replaces neurotransmitters in the brain. Within a short while of smoking, the brain drops down the production of these neurotransmitters, resulting in the craving for nicotine. A person chooses to smoke their first cigarette, they don't choose to keep doing it. By the time I quit smoking, I was doing it to simply feel normal. Not normal in the sense of habit, but normal in the sense that I felt the base need for something on a near insinctual level. For those of you who have not suffered chemical addiction, it's akin to the feeling of thirst or hunger. It causes panic when you don't have it. I felt like I needed cigarettes just to get through the day, just like I needed food and water.

So no, the labels do not work. They weren't designed to keep people from smoking, just to clear up liability so you can't sue the tobacco companies if you get a smoking related disease. People smoke because other people they know/admire smoke and they perceive that these people are getting something out of it. Obviously, if these people are doing it, there must be something to it. It's not a matter of peer pressure, it really is a matter of curiosity and envy. So, for those of you that are curious, let me dispell this misterious tobacco thing. You get nothing out of smoking. The pysical buzz that comes when you first start goes away in just a few weeks. Afterwards, you continue smoking to feel normal. You become dependent. One of the most horrifying revelations in my life was when I admitted to myself that I was addicted. Do yourself a favor and never start in the first place.

edit:

Originally Posted by Blade X

They nvr have any effect at all. I mean it's the person's choice to smoke. It's only shock tactics tht will work. Advertising showing the ugly and dark side of smoking will work.

lol When I smoked, I lit a cigarette every time I saw a TRUTH add on TV. People smoke because other people do it. Saying shock tactics work is like saying, "We've got 100% success ratio on this baby! See these people? They never intend on smoking. Ever. And since we started airing our commercial they haven't smoked a single cigarette!"

You have to find a way to get the people already smoking to stop in order to eliminate it. In order to do this, you must make the smoker come to grips with the fact that they are a drug addict, and then get them treatment so they can stop. While I believe that anti-smoking campaigns should definitely be here, I also believe they should be aimed more at helping the smoker quit. In my opinion, the shocker campaigns are simply imflamatory and aren't actually helping the problem. The problem is smokers. Period. As long as there are people smoking, other people will start.

They server their purpose. They tell you if you smoke you get cancer. But everyone already knows that. Their purpose is so nobody can sue the tobacco company saying they didn't know. It's to save their a$$.

Thr tiuth ones i think are effective