THIS IS A NON-SMOKING WEBSITE.



TO CONTINUE LIVING IN GOOD HEALTH
DON’T SMOKE BECAUSE IT RUINS YOUR LIFE.
NOW, TAKE A DEEP BREATH &
LET THE OXYGEN DO ITS WORK!



People Who Smoke
THEY’LL HUFF & THEY’LL PUFF & THEY’LL BLOW THEIR OWN HOUSES DOWN, BUT NOT MINE!

I just read an article about the FDA proposing graphic warnings on cigarette packs because the written health warnings are not really as effective as they had hoped – no kidding!

No surprise from where I am sitting. I have sat by and watched people who have relatives that have died from lung cancer due to their smoking, who have one of those wretched-sounding coughs, puff and puff and puff. I have seen people on oxygen huff and puff in and around their tubes. There are people huddled around each other in the freezing cold, and even some blizzard conditions, huffing and puffing, and taking more breaks in the workplace than those who don’t smoke (but that is another issue). Their clothes smell, they smell, and it is offensive.

And I have a few friends who just absolutely MUST leave the dinner table at a restaurant to go out and have a smoke after eating, and it's really annoying. Why bother ordering a nice meal if you have to destroy the taste of it with a cigarette? I remember recently driving back with a friend from a memorial service and, even though she knows I don't smoke, nor do I like it in my own car, she was driving and just had to light up. She opened the window, thank-you-very-much, but still it was uncomfortable. Was it really that necessary under the circumstances? So there was no apology, no excuse me’s but I just have to, no nothing...I mean couldn't she wait 10 more minutes until after she dropped me home? Also, I was out with some friends for lunch, both smoke, and when we were getting ready to leave, one asked me if I minded if she had a smoke...I said yes, and there was this look of shock on her face like nobody had ever challenged her before, and she said she was going to anyway, and did!! (Wow, there’s so much to say about all of that.)

I find it really refreshing that there are no longer smoking 'areas' inside restaurants and other public places; people have to go outside to a designated area to do that, BUT those of us having to walk into that building oftentimes have to do it thru the smokey air! Some bars still allow it, but those of us who don't smoke don't have to go there, so let them wallow in their own poisonous muck.

So are these proposed graphic pics on the cigarette packs going to make a difference? Not to those people, and I am sure not anymore than the written warnings; but they feel it is worth a shot. People have smoked something since the beginning of time. Of course RJ Reynolds has already filed a lawsuit about their Constitutional First Amendment rights; not sure they have a good chance at that. The FDA got the warning label, so I think they can get the graphics as well.


UPDATE (6/21/2011):
Kudos to the FDA for finally doing something REALLY constructive! A picture has always been worth 1000 words, and that old ‘Surgeon General’s Warning’ that’s been on the cigarette packs for years has truly outlived its usefulness. I imagine in the beginning it might have given some smokers cause to pause, but it is just an old worn out idea whose time has faded away. The FDA has released 9 VERY GRAPHIC warnings for cigarette packages that depict smokings negative impact to a person’s health. The best part of this is that the new warnings must cover at least 50% of every pack of cigs sold in the USA by mid 2013! Unfortunately, this gives the tobacco industry time to plan a rebuttal. You can view the final set of these warnings by clicking this FDA link: FDA Cigarette Health Warnings