SMOKING CAN KILL YOU But what do you think about the Health Warnings and Images?

Martina Truhlov TABLE OF CONTENTS

2nd year AJ HI VZ

Introduction Smoking can kill you 1.1. The Brief History of Cigarettes 1.1.1. What is in a cigarette? 1. 1. 2. What is in a cigarette smoke? 1.2. Health Problems caused by smoking cigarettes 1. 2. 1. Legal issues 1. 2. 2. Written warnings on cigarettes packages 1. 2. 3. Warning images on cigarettes packages My own experience and opinion Conclusion References List of Images 14-16

2 3 4 4-5 6-8 8-9 9-10 10-14

17-18 19 20 21-22

05/21/2011

Introduction

In this work I would like to mention few interesting information about smoking, history of cigarettes, my own experience and opinion and also I would like to point out advantages or disadvantages of health warnings and images posted on cigarettes packages. At the beginning it is necessary to inform you that I am so called light smoker, because I do not need to on a regular basis and I do not smoke more than four cigarettes a day, when having a smoking day. The reason why I have the tendency of occasional smoking now is either stress or boredom. In my case there is nothing in between at the present time. It used to be different, but more details will follow in the chapter about my own experience and opinion with regards to smoking. I hope that images used in my work will not disgust the reader too much.

05/21/2011

Smoking can kill you 1. 1. The brief history of cigarettes Tobacco was first used by the peoples of the pre-Columbian Americas. Native Americans apparently cultivated the plant and smoked it in pipes for medicinal and ceremonial purposes. Christopher Columbus brought a few tobacco leaves and seeds with him back to Europe, but most Europeans didn't get their first taste of tobacco until the mid-16th century, when adventurers and diplomats like France's Jean Nicot (for whom nicotine is named) began to popularize its use. Tobacco was introduced to France in 1556, Portugal in 1558, and Spain in 1559, and England in 1565. The first successful commercial crop was cultivated in Virginia in 1612 by Englishman John Rolfe. Within seven years, it was the colony's largest export. Over the next two centuries, the growth of tobacco as a cash crop fueled the demand in North America for slave labor. At first, tobacco was produced mainly for pipe-smoking, chewing, and snuffs. Cigars didn't become popular until the early 1800s. Cigarettes, which had been around in crude form since the early 1600s, didn't become widely popular in the United States until after the Civil War, with the spread of "Bright" tobacco, a uniquely cured yellow leaf grown in Virginia and North Carolina. Cigarette sales surged again with the introduction of the "White Burley" tobacco leaf and the invention of the first practical cigarette-making machine, sponsored by tobacco baron James Buchanan "Buck" Duke, in the late 1880s. 1 1. 1. 1. What is in a cigarette? Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, including 43 known cancer-causing (carcinogenic) compounds and 400 other toxins. These include nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide, as well as formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, and DDT. Nicotine is highly addictive. Smoke containing nicotine is inhaled into the lungs, and the nicotine reaches your brain in just six seconds.
1

http://edition.cnn.com/US/9705/tobacco/history/

05/21/2011

While not as serious as heroin addiction, addiction to nicotine also poses very serious health risks in the long run. Nicotine in small doses acts as a stimulant to the brain. In large doses, it's a depressant, inhibiting the flow of signals between nerve cells. In even larger doses, it's a lethal poison, affecting the heart, blood vessels, and hormones. Nicotine in the bloodstream acts to make the smoker feel calm. As a cigarette is smoked, the amount of tar inhaled into the lungs increases, and the last puff contains more than twice as much tar as the first puff. Carbon monoxide makes it harder for red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body. Tar is a mixture of substances that together form a sticky mass in the lungs. Most of the chemicals inhaled in cigarette smoke stay in the lungs. The more you inhale, the better it feelsand the greater the damage to your lungs.2

Picture 1 - What is in a cigarette scheme suitable for children

http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/whatsinit.htm

05/21/2011

Picture 2 - What is in a cigarette scheme for adults

1. 1. 2. What is in cigarette smoke? Cigarette smoke contains thousands of different chemicals, or 'smoke constituents,' also referred to as 'smoke emissions.' The most commonly known smoke constituents are tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide (CO). In addition to these, more than 7,000 chemicals have been identified in tobacco smoke to date. Public health authorities have classified some 70 smoke constituents as likely causes of smoking-related diseases, such as lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema. Smoke constituents are measured using laboratory machines. Today there are internationally standardized, validated test methods for only a few smoke constituents, including tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide. Tar, Nicotine and Carbon Monoxide Yields Most smokers are familiar with tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide, because many governments require manufacturers to measure them for every cigarette brand and display the results on cigarette packs.

05/21/2011

Tar Tar is not a specific smoke constituent, but a term that refers to particles in the smoke that are measured in machine test methods. These particles are made up of many smoke constituents, including some that public health authorities believe are likely causes of smoking-related diseases like lung cancer. Nicotine Nicotine is a naturally occurring chemical in the tobacco plant. When tobacco is burned, nicotine transfers into the smoke. Nicotine has been identified by public health authorities as the addictive substance in tobacco smoke. Carbon Monoxide Carbon monoxide is a gas that is formed in tobacco smoke. Carbon monoxide has been identified as a leading cause of cardiovascular disease (heart disease) in smokers. Other Smoke Constituents Thousands of other smoke constituents have been identified in tobacco smoke. In addition to nicotine and carbon monoxide, public health authorities have classified around 70 of them as likely causes of smoking-related diseases. Some of these constituents are arsenic, benzene, benzo[a]pyrene, heavy metals (e.g. lead, cadmium), hydrogen cyanide and tobacco-specific nitrosamines. 3

http://www.pmi.com/eng/our_products/whats_in_smoke/pages/whats_in_smoke.aspx

05/21/2011

Picture 3 This isnt just cigarette smoke

1. 2. Health Problems caused by cigarette smoking The negative health effects of tobacco were not initially known; in fact, most early European physicians subscribed to the Native American belief that tobacco can be an effective medicine. By the early 20th century, with the growth in cigarette smoking, articles addressing the health effects of smoking began to appear in scientific and medical journals. In 1930, researchers in Cologne, Germany, made a statistical correlation between cancer and smoking. Eight years later, Dr. Raymond Pearl of Johns Hopkins University reported that smokers do not live as long as non-smokers. By 1944, the American Cancer Society began to warn about possible ill effects of smoking, although it admitted that "no definite evidence exists" linking smoking and lung cancer. A statistical correlation between smoking and cancer had been demonstrated; but no causal relationship had been shown. More importantly, the general public knew little of the growing body of statistics.

05/21/2011

That changed in 1952, when Reader's Digest published "Cancer by the Carton," an article detailing the dangers of smoking. The effect of the article was enormous: Similar reports began appearing in other periodicals, and the smoking public began to take notice. The following year, cigarette sales declined for the first time in over two decades. The tobacco industry responded swiftly. By 1954 the major U.S. tobacco companies had formed the Tobacco Industry Research Council to counter the growing health concerns. With counsel from TIRC, tobacco companies began mass-marketing filtered cigarettes and low-tar formulations that promised a "healthier" smoke. The public responded, and soon sales were booming again. The next big blow to the tobacco industry came in the early 1960s, with the formation of the Surgeon General's Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health. Convened in response to political pressures and a growing body of scientific evidence suggesting a causal relationship between smoking and cancer, the committee released a 387-page report in 1964 entitled "Smoking and Health." In unequivocal terms, it concluded that "cigarette smoking is causally related to lung cancer in men." It said that the data for women, "though less extensive, point in the same direction." The report noted that the average smoker is nine to 10 times more likely to get lung cancer than the average non-smoker and cited specific carcinogens in cigarette smoke, including cadmium, DDT, and arsenic. 1. 2. 1. Legal issues The tobacco industry has been on the run ever since. In 1965, Congress passed the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act requiring the surgeon general's warnings on all cigarette packages. In 1971, all broadcast advertising was banned. In 1990, smoking was banned on all interstate buses and all domestic airline flights lasting six hours or less. In 1994, Mississippi filed the first of 22 state lawsuits seeking to recoup millions of dollars from tobacco companies for smokers' Medicaid bills. And in 1995, President Clinton announced FDA plans to regulate tobacco, especially sales and advertising aimed at minors. Tobacco has been around longer than the United States and a causal relationship between smoking and cancer has been acknowledged by the U.S. government for over three decades. So why has it taken so long for the tobacco industry to be forced to settle lawsuits over the dangers of cigarettes?

05/21/2011

10

Previous lawsuits went nowhere. Tobacco companies, with deep pockets for legal maneuvering, easily beat back early suits, including the first one, filed in 1954. Their most serious challenge before the 1990s came in 1983, when Rose Cipollone, a smoker dying from lung cancer, filed suit against Liggett Group, charging the company failed to warn her about the dangers of its products. Cipollone, who eventually died, initially won a $400,000 judgment against the company, but that was later overturned. After two arguments before the Supreme Court, Cipollone's family, unable to afford the cost of continued litigation, dropped the suit. Now, however, tobacco companies face a different legal environment. Over the past three decades, the law has changed considerably. Today, state laws and legal precedents hold manufacturers more liable for the effects of their products. And the old legal defense of "contributing negligence", which prevented lawsuits by people with some measure of responsibility for their own condition, is no longer viable in most jurisdictions. Instead, a defendant can be held partially liable and forced to pay a corresponding percentage of damages. Finally, the notion of "strict" liability has developed; this means a defendant can be found liable whether or not they are found negligent. If a product such as tobacco causes harm, the company that produced it can be held responsible, even if it wasn't aware of the potential danger. 1. 2. 2. Written warnings on cigarette packages USA New legislation passed in June 2009 requires pictorial health warnings on 50% of the front and back of US cigarette packages within 24 months, in addition to a 15 month implementation window. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act) in the United States requires the FDA to finalize picture health warnings by June 2011. The new health warnings will consists of nine full color health warnings that cover the top half of the "front" and "back" of cigarette packages.

05/21/2011

11

The FDA has released a series of images for each of the nine health warnings and is seeking public comment through January 9 2011.4

Picture 4 - Text warning from 1984 2010

CANADA Canada became the first country to implement health warnings on cigarette packages when they initiated the use of warnings starting June 2001. Cigarette packages are required to have a health warning cover 50% of the front and 50% of the back of the package (one side in English and the other side in French, the two official Canadian languages). Overall, 50% of the package space is appropriated to health warnings. In addition to health warnings on the outside of packages, 1 of 16 rotated messages is required to appear on the inside of each cigarette package, either on the slide or on an insert. A set of 16 health warnings are rotated on packages. Canada also prohibits the terms "light" and "mild" from appearing on packages. As well, Canada requires tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide and benzene emission numbers to appear on the side of packages. Two numbers appear from each emission: one from the ISO and one from the Health Canada machine smoking method.

http://www.tobaccolabels.ca/healthwarningimages/country/unitedstates

05/21/2011

12

Health Canada has released a full set of 16 exterior warnings, 8 interior messages, as well as 4 toxic emission messages for the side panel, and is seeking public comment through May 5 2011. 5 UK The United Kingdom implemented their current health warnings policy to place pictorial health warnings on cigarette packages by October 2008 in 2007, as a result of the European Commission labeling directive. Including the border, health warnings will be required to 43% of the front and 53% of the back of all cigarette packages. Overall, 48% of the pack space is appropriated to health warnings. The United Kingdom will rotate a set of 15 images. The United Kingdom also prohibits the terms "light" and "mild" from appearing on packages. As well, The United Kingdom requires tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide emission numbers to appear on the side of packages. These emission numbers are generated using the ISO machine smoking method.6

Picture 5 and 6 - UK warnings

CZECH REPUBLIC
5 6

http://www.tobaccolabels.ca/healthwarningimages/country/canada http://www.tobaccolabels.ca/healthwarningimages/country/unitedkingdom

05/21/2011

13

WHO in the co-operation with European Commission recommended the usage of aggressive warnings on the cigarette packages sold in the Czech Republic since May 1 2005.

Picture 7 - Smoking is harmful to you and to people around you

Picture 8 - Smoking can kill you

Picture 9 - Smoking durning pregnancy harms your babys health

05/21/2011

14

Picture 10 - Smoking causes lethal lung cancer

1. 2. 3. Warning images on cigarette packages USA

Picture 11 - US warning

Picture 12 - US warning

CANADA

Picture 13 - Canadas warning

05/21/2011

15
Picture 14 - Canadas warning

Picture 15 - Canadas warning

UK

Picture 16 - UK warning

Picture 17 - UK warning

05/21/2011

16

CZECH REPUBLIC

Picture 18 - Possible future warning in the Czech Republic

My own experience and opinion When I was 16 I started to smoke, because I wanted to look cool. At that age I was totally stupid, because I havent realized the consequences. Since childhood I have asthma. Half a year after being so smart to start smoking I had a first asthma attack. I ended up in the hospital. But that did not stop me from smoking to prove that I can do anything no matter what illness I suffer from.

05/21/2011

17

Three months after I had another asthma attack. And surprisingly I ended up in the hospital. At that time my doctor decided that I need to take a medication on a regular basis. The doctor also advised me of smoking negatives, but I was a teenager and I had a mind of my own. So I kept smoking, but that does not mean that I smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. I had approximately 5 to 10 cigarettes daily. Not too much, but enough to become addicted. By the age of 21 I smoked much more. Sometimes even a pack a day. And at the end of summer I realized that I have to do something about it now or it will end up badly. I went to USA to work as an au-pair. No smoking was allowed in the family I worked for. So I quit. I still remember my last cigarette at the Heathrow airport hall. You could smoke there in those days it was in 1999. When I came back here for holiday in 2000 I started smoking again. And I remember exactly when and why. I was applying for a work and study permit to Canada, so I was quite nervous and friend of mine drove me to Canadian Embassy in Vienna and that was the breaking point. While living and working in Canada I became a light smoker. So when I met my husband-to-be in March 2001 we were both smoking and again, you could smoke almost everywhere at that time. But later on it changed. It was in June 2001 when we started buying packages of cigarettes with warnings on them. The warnings did not affect us at all, most of the information written there is widely known. But when they started using the images of ill people, damaged embryos and cancerous lungs, there was a huge debate about it. It was on the TV, in the radio, in newspapers, magazines and even the internet was stroked by this issue. In my opinion it is good for us to see what damage the smoking causes to us, to our health. And also I support the idea of different types of health insurance. I mean if I am a heavy smoker and I suffer from lung cancer, let me pay for the treatment by myself. Why should other people pay for my stupidity? The same could be implemented in the obesity treatment. If I am massively overweight and it is not caused by medical condition, I should pay for any medicaments I need to take, because I do not understand, why should other healthy people pay for my insufficient will to stop overeating?

05/21/2011

18

The situation where it matters if I will die or live is different. The repayments should be done afterwards.

Picture 19 - The cost of smoking - USA Summer 2009

Conclusion The price of cigarettes and alcohol should be sky high. The money should be used to support people who have a medical condition not caused by their mistakes. And to support children who should not suffer at all. The grossest images posted on the cigarettes packs the better. At least some people will realize the reality of damage to the body smoking causes.

05/21/2011

19

What do you think???

References Websites: CNN. com, accessed on 05/21/2011 http://edition.cnn.com/US/9705/tobacco/history/ Quitsmokingsupport.com, accessed on 05/21/2011

05/21/2011

20

http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/whatsinit.htm Pmi.com, accessed on 05/21/2011 http://www.pmi.com/eng/our_products/whats_in_smoke/pages/whats_in_smoke.aspx Tobaccolabels.ca, accessed on 05/21/2011 http://www.tobaccolabels.ca/healthwarningimages/country/unitedstates http://www.tobaccolabels.ca/healthwarningimages/country/canada http://www.tobaccolabels.ca/healthwarningimages/country/unitedkingdom

Images

Picture 1 http://www.flyingcolours.org.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?ap=1&id=1338 Picture 2 http://www.bloodindex.com/content_cigarette.php

05/21/2011

21

Picture 3 http://www.tobaccofreealabama.org/uploads/49.jpg Picture 4 http://www.tobaccolabels.ca/gallery/emission/usconsti/large Picture 5 and 6 http://www.tobaccolabels.ca/healthwarningimages/country/unitedkingdom Picture 7 http://www.potravinyvareka.cz/category/kategorie-pro-vo/cigarety/1635 Picture 8 and 9 and 10 http://www.hint.cz/tabak/czech.htm Picture 11 http://www.tobaccolabels.ca/gallery/usa/usa2010etschildrenlivedexperiencetargetsparents2jp Picture 12 http://www.tobaccolabels.ca/gallery/usa/usa2010healtheffectslunglivedexperiencelungcancerj Picture 13 http://www.tobaccolabels.ca/gallery/canada/can2011healtheffectsmouthmouthcancergrossjpg Picture 14 http://www.tobaccolabels.ca/gallery/canada/can20 Picture 15 http://www.tobaccolabels.ca/gallery/canada/can2011healtheffectsheartdiseasedorganheartdise ase Picture 16 http://www.tobaccolabels.ca/gallery/unitedki/uk2004co Picture 17 http://www.tobaccolabels.ca/gallery/unitedki/uk2004~2 Picture 18 http://www.hukot.estranky.cz/clanky/koureni-opravdu-skodi.html Picture 19 http://tobaccofree.health.ufl.edu/flash/cost.php Picture 20

05/21/2011

22

http://hypnosishealthinfo.com/category/stop-smoking-hypnosis/

05/21/2011