Effectiveness of Cigarette Warning Labels

Author: Thomas C. Weiss
Published: 2011/02/08 - Updated: 2022/06/11
Topic: Addiction and Substance Abuse (Publications Database)

Page Content: Synopsis Definition Introduction Main Item

Synopsis: A proposed new rule requires warning labels on cigarettes and cigarette ads, some of which are rather graphic.

• The tobacco industry in America is vast, with sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products such as cigars and pipe tobacco making the industry millions of dollars in profits each year.

• The new warning labels will be placed on the upper part of every cigarette pack's front and back panels. The labels will take up at least fifty percent of the panels. Advertisements for cigarettes will have warning labels as well. The warning labels on advertising for cigarettes will cover twenty percent of the ad.

Defining Nicotine

Nicotine: Nicotine is a naturally produced alkaloid in the nightshade family of plants and is widely used recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As a pharmaceutical drug, Nicotine is used for smoking cessation to relieve withdrawal symptoms. Nicotine is the chemical in tobacco that keeps you smoking. In the brain, nicotine increases the release of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, which help regulate mood and behavior. Controlled nicotine levels are given to patients through gums, dermal patches, lozenges, inhalers, or nasal sprays to wean them off their dependence. Although nicotine does not cause cancer in humans, it is unclear whether it functions as a tumor promoter as of 2012. A 2018 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report concludes: "While it is biologically plausible that nicotine can act as a tumor promoter, the existing body of evidence indicates this is unlikely to translate into increased risk of human cancer."

Introduction

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in America has issued a proposed rule that requires warning labels on cigarettes and cigarette ads, some of which are rather graphic. The warning labels on cigarette packages are larger than the ones many have become accustomed to; they are far more visible and present health warnings that have previously not been used. Nine of these new labels have warning statements and color images that present the negative health consequences of smoking.

Main Item

The new labels will begin to appear on cigarette packs and in advertisements by June 22nd of this year. The warnings contain the following statements:

WARNING: Smoking can kill you.
WARNING: Cigarettes cause cancer.
WARNING: Cigarettes are addictive.
WARNING: Cigarettes cause fatal lung disease.
WARNING: Tobacco smoke can harm your children.
WARNING: Cigarettes cause strokes and heart disease.
WARNING: Smoking during pregnancy can harm your baby.
WARNING: Tobacco smoke causes fatal lung disease in nonsmokers.
WARNING: Quitting smoking now greatly reduces serious risks to your health.

The new warning labels will be placed on the upper part of every cigarette pack's front and back panels. The labels will take up at least fifty percent of the panels. Advertisements for cigarettes will have warning labels as well. The warning labels on advertising for cigarettes will cover twenty percent of the ad.

The tobacco industry in America is huge, with sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products such as cigars and pipe tobacco making the industry millions of dollars in profits each year. The Food and Drug Administration's attempts to place warning labels on cigarettes and other tobacco products in the past have been largely unsuccessful, as demonstrated by the numbers of people who smoke, but the numbers of people who experience negative health effects and even deaths related to smoking.

Nicotine in cigarettes and tobacco products causes people to become addicted to smoking. With due respect to the FDA - the entire package of cigarettes could be covered in warning labels, and people addicted to smoking would still buy and smoke cigarettes. Nicotine is highly addictive, and people who smoke and desire to quit smoking find themselves reaching for everything from nicotine patches to nicotine lozenges to put cigarettes out of their lives.

There are clinics and support groups in existence with the sole purpose of assisting people in quitting smoking.

Nicotine and many other potentially destructive ingredients in cigarettes and other tobacco products keep even people who quit for periods craving tobacco. The sight of someone smoking or the smell of a cigarette can be enough to get a person who has quit to reach for a cigarette.

Nothing will change until the FDA makes nicotine and other destructive ingredients that the tobacco industry adds to tobacco illegal. The advertisements will do little to nothing. To get people to quit smoking, it would be far wiser to force the tobacco industry to slowly diminish the amount of nicotine and other added ingredients in their tobacco products over six to nine months until there is no nicotine or other added unhealthy ingredients in cigarettes or other tobacco products. Then the FDA should make nicotine and unhealthy added ingredients formerly used in tobacco products illegal.

Smokers would find themselves going through a process like using nicotine patches over time; only their tobacco products and cigarettes would contain less and less nicotine. Before long, cigarettes, cigars, and pipe tobacco would taste bad to smokers. They would find themselves without an addiction to nicotine or the many other unhealthy added ingredients in tobacco. It would be far easier for smokers to quit smoking. At that point, the warning labels the FDA is proposing may truly be effective.

The new warning labels the FDA produces are a very meek effort.

The problem of nicotine and additive addiction remains un-approached. Large industries such as the tobacco industry have great political sway in America, leading to such meek efforts. Until the government puts aside the special interest in tobacco in favor of the citizens of this nation and our health - nothing will change where smoking is concerned. The warning labels coming in June of this year are just short of a waste of time. They are more of a statement saying that the government supports the special tobacco interest than anything else.

Author Credentials:

Thomas C. Weiss is a researcher and editor for Disabled World. Thomas attended college and university courses earning a Masters, Bachelors and two Associate degrees, as well as pursing Disability Studies. As a Nursing Assistant Thomas has assisted people from a variety of racial, religious, gender, class, and age groups by providing care for people with all forms of disabilities from Multiple Sclerosis to Parkinson's; para and quadriplegia to Spina Bifida. Explore Thomas' complete biography for comprehensive insights into his background, expertise, and accomplishments.

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Cite This Page (APA): Weiss, T. C. (2011, February 8 - Last revised: 2022, June 11). Effectiveness of Cigarette Warning Labels. Disabled World. Retrieved December 12, 2024 from www.disabled-world.com/medical/pharmaceutical/addiction/cigarette-labels.php

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