Astonishingly, here in Ireland, we're being lobbied by our friends in Virginia - http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/us-governor-urges-go...
When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
21–30 of 71 posts
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Of course I'd prefer it another way. Whether you like it or not, businesses are subject to all sorts of regulations from governments. Maybe you're a believer in the free market; I'm not. I'd like businesses that make their living exploiting people to be regulated.
Of course, but those regulations come from somewhere, they come from court cases, from subject matter experts' testimonials, from balanced review of views and facts on both sides. We don't want a random politician with questionable morals and unknown contributors banning products or whole sectors of the market bypassing courts and due process.
To be fair, restrictions on tobacco products are well supported by the majority of, at the very least non-smokers, voters in most Western countries. You don't see massive demonstrations or petitions to reinstate the right to smoke in office, restaurant, public place, etc. In some case, it might be more dubious, but for tobacco consumption I think the trend is pretty clear.
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#23Actually, 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…
But i suppose the physical aspect of quitting smoking is the worst after 2-3 days. The mental aspect is always there, because other people smoke (or you used to smoke in the car or when you had any stress).
It doesn't seem logical to me that it's harder after 3 weeks then after 2-3 days, because i went from a pack a day to 0 cigarettes a day (instead of slowly reducing nicotine)
Sidenote: I'm actually from Belgium ;-)
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#24I would be careful using Australian packaging laws as evidence that plain packaging has an effect on rates of smoking. There has been a lot of controversy about whether it has had an effect or not. There has been a secular decline in smoking in Australia so a continued decrease in smoking is not necessarily evidence of an effective policy. Here are some alternative points of view: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nati…
Immensely wealthy tobacco companies pay people to spread misinformation.
Do you have links to reputable sources?
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would you prefer it any other way? Instead of going to the High Court your government can just say "what we say goes, and if you happened to be in business X that we no longer like, you're out of luck", I'd rather see them fight in courts. A dying business fighting tooth and nail for their survival is understandable and expected whatever poison they happen to be selling.
Actually, having the government having the power to dismantle the kind of businesses they don't like is actually a neat idea. I know our representative governments aren't democratic (despite elections and stuff). But big capitalist corporations are even worse. So, before we get rid of governments and their ludicrously concentrated power, why don't we look at the elephant in the room first: corporations and their even…
> So, before we get rid of governments and their ludicrously concentrated power, why don't we look at the elephant in the room first: corporations and their even more ludicrously concentrated power?
Hey, Marx is back !
Instead of looking at the wrong elephant, i.e. the one actually selling products that people want, I'd say you better attack the one that's 1) taxing you to death for subpar services 2) force-feeding their education to your kids (brainwashing) 3) getting away with mismanagement of public resources (politician immunity) 4) able to resort to violent actions should you not respect them (take your possessions, imprison you, or worse). 5) can make you go to war and die. For free.
Yeah, sure, Corporations are SUPER Evil. Except that they are actually composed of normal people like you and me, while the people in power in Governments are certainly from a far more selected class that you can never hope to reach. But believe what you want.
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#26Usually so libertarian here, so where did that go?
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#27science reporting at its worst. contrary to the claim in the title, there is no evidence that plain packs CAUSED a decline in smoking.
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
I'm not a smoker, but I wonder: is there a downside to just continue using an e-cigarette? It's the smoke that kills you (and those around you) after all, not the nicotine.
It's supposed to do less harm, which actually means nothing as manufacturers are making it addictive.
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#29My uncle from Russia told me, that they sell cigarettes in natural brown packages. When you want to purchase a package in a supermarket you get list of all the brands they offer. But there are no logos anywhere in the market. It is also forbidden to smoke in any public place. I currently live in Germany. It is strange to see how the government tries to stop people from smoking by only raising a higher tax on tobacco.…
The reasons to ban smoking are
i) to prevent harm to the smoker
ii) to prevent harm to people around the smoker
Banning smoking in all public places may push smokers to smoke more at home or in the car, where their children are.
Since children are already severely affected by smoking we need to be careful to avoid anything that increases the amount of smoke around them.
Re: When All Cigarette Packages Look the Same, Fewer People Buy Them
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Of course, but those regulations come from somewhere, they come from court cases, from subject matter experts' testimonials, from balanced review of views and facts on both sides. We don't want a random politician with questionable morals and unknown contributors banning products or whole sectors of the market bypassing courts and due process.
To be fair, restrictions on tobacco products are well supported by the majority of, at the very least non-smokers, voters in most Western countries. You don't see massive demonstrations or petitions to reinstate the right to smoke in office, restaurant, public place, etc. In some case, it might be more dubious, but for tobacco consumption I think the trend is pretty clear.
Anecdotally, many smokers also support continued regulations on tobacco products. Tobacco companies have very little sympathy in the zeitgeist.