When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
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When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
1–10 of 71 posts
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#2This is good. Cigarettes seem way too addictive to most people to be used responsibly, so the only way we'll protect public health is by deterring the first purchase.
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#3From what I remember of Australia's case, big tobacco put up a fight, threatened the government with law suits, but in the end backed down.
When you're in another country you really notice the difference, for example in Vietnam, even small corner shops have these intricate displays of cigarette packets, often on pedestals, with bright spotlights.
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#4Actually, i quitted cigarettes 9 days ago. Although it's irritating when going out (other people that smoke). I don't seem to have a problem just now and i actually smoked for 13 years (i'm 27).
I quitted because it's too unhealthy and i wanted to get back in sports... Which probably helped a lot (running / swimming while quitting it).
Because i also sleep more now (i'm really forcing myselve to sleep more then 4 hours / night), i'm probably less addicted to anything.
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#5From what I remember of Australia's case, big tobacco put up a fight, threatened the government with law suits, but in the end backed down. When you're in another country you really notice the difference, for example in Vietnam, even small corner shops have these intricate displays of cigarette packets, often on pedestals, with bright spotlights.
There is a reason that many investors are still investing heavily into tobacco companies. They are killing it in the emerging countries in particular around South East Asia. I went through back streets of Phillipines and it's shocking how many cigarette billboards there are.
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#6Actually, i quitted cigarettes 9 days ago. Although it's irritating when going out (other people that smoke). I don't seem to have a problem just now and i actually smoked for 13 years (i'm 27). I quitted because it's too unhealthy and i wanted to get back in sports... Which probably helped a lot (running / swimming while quitting it). Because i also sleep more now (i'm really forcing myselve to sleep more then 4 hou…
Good job on quitting, but a word of warning: you've not hit the hard patch yet. From what all of my friends who quit smoking experienced, 1 month is the real test. I've seen many people quit smoking cold turkey and do great for 1 month, and then get back to it with a vengeance. I'm not sure what the psychological / physical reason for that is, but thought I'd warn you to be extra vigilant in 3 weeks - don't feel that you're finally rid of cigarettes and have a last one to celebrate.
I personally smoked about 2 packs a day from 18 to 33 (that's a lot of wasted money) and quit thanks to e-cigarettes. The trick was to become a proper e-cigarette geek: didn't buy pre-manufactured juice but manufactured my own just right, with some essence of pepper for that burning sensation at the back of the throat, some mint for breath-control, and a bit of peppermint because it tastes nice.
The first week was hard (apparently - I felt it wasn't too bad, but my wife later told me I'd been a right pain in the arse), but I successfully swapped tobacco addiction to e-cigarette addiction. Since I manufactured my own e-juice, I was able to reduce the amount of nicotine with each new batch, and quickly got to entirely nicotine-free smoking.
After a while (3 months, if memory serves), making my own juice became too much of a hassle and I just stopped. Since I'd gotten rid of the nicotine addiction by then, I didn't feel any withdrawal and haven't smoked (or wanted to smoke) a cigarette in more than 2 years now.
The conclusion is that if you start craving a last cigarette, go for an electronic one. There's thousands of shops in Paris (that's where you're from, right?) and they've become surprisingly affordable - much more so than a sustained tobacco addition, at any rate.
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#7This is good. Cigarettes seem way too addictive to most people to be used responsibly, so the only way we'll protect public health is by deterring the first purchase.
It's not just that. Obviously smoking is a lifestyle. (I don't smoke.) Everyone knows its pure utilitarian benefit is negative. Likewise, who would buy a Big Mac in a plain brown wrapper in an unbranded restaurant with a nondescript "McDonald's" written on it in generic typeface?
People know it's bad. It's a lifestyle.
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#8This is good. Cigarettes seem way too addictive to most people to be used responsibly, so the only way we'll protect public health is by deterring the first purchase.
It's not just that. Obviously smoking is a lifestyle. (I don't smoke.) Everyone knows its pure utilitarian benefit is negative. Likewise, who would buy a Big Mac in a plain brown wrapper in an unbranded restaurant with a nondescript "McDonald's" written on it in generic typeface? People know it's bad. It's a lifestyle.
I'd probably go even further than that - you can have, by all accounts, a reasonably healthy lifestyle while still eating mcdonalds, the same isn't true of cigarettes. There's still SOME utilitarian benefit of fast food, even if marginal. Cigarettes are basically the only consumer product that, if used as intended, cause you intrinsic harm. (That I can think of)
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#9Here's another interesting tidbit about plain packaging: the Australian government has been sued by big tobacco over this, under the terms of a trade agreement similar to the TPPA that is currently being negotiated in secret. These agreements allow large multinationals to sue governments who are party to them if they feel that legislation enacted by that government unfairly prejudices their business. The tobacco companies couldn't sue under the terms of the US-Aus trade agreement so Phillip Morris rearranged their affairs so they appeared as a Hong Kong company and then sued under the terms of that agreement instead.
I live in New Zealand, which will unfortunately almost certainly be party to the TPPA before long. This will affect our ability to introduce plain cigarette packaging, resist meddling in our copyright laws and to continue using generic drugs to lower the cost of healthcare for all New Zealanders.
The only small glimmer of common sense in all this is that the Australian High Court ruled against the tobacco companies. But we'll inevitably end up spending a large amount of our tax dollars on expensive legal battles with companies whose revenue approaches our GDP if we implement legislation that favours our citizens over international big business. It's a travesty.
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not just that. Obviously smoking is a lifestyle. (I don't smoke.) Everyone knows its pure utilitarian benefit is negative. Likewise, who would buy a Big Mac in a plain brown wrapper in an unbranded restaurant with a nondescript "McDonald's" written on it in generic typeface? People know it's bad. It's a lifestyle.
I'd probably go even further than that - you can have, by all accounts, a reasonably healthy lifestyle while still eating mcdonalds, the same isn't true of cigarettes. There's still SOME utilitarian benefit of fast food, even if marginal. Cigarettes are basically the only consumer product that, if used as intended, cause you intrinsic harm. (That I can think of)
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