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The world is becoming far more educated when it comes to realizing that there are certain things that many of us like to enjoy, yet at the same time, things that can greatly compromise our health.
To pick the top of the bunch - an issue that is constantly debated among medical professionals, society at large and people - is the issue of smoking tobacco. There are no other products which currently sit on store shelves that have health warning signs like tobacco products do. The fact of the matter is that tobacco can damage your health, which is why the US government has required that all tobacco companies place health warning signs on the side of all cigarette packages.
What is the purpose of the health warning signs?
The overall purpose of health warning signs on cigarette packaging is to serve as both an educational element for smokers and as a deterrent for would-be smokers. You know the signs that I am talking about—“Warning Smoking Will Greatly Increase Risks to your Health.” And other health warning signs that tell smokers not to smoke when they are pregnant, and that smoking can cause a plethora of nasty diseases that decrease longevity.
Perhaps the most notable of these health warning signs, however, is not found in the United States. Rather, other countries abroad have hopped on the anti-smoking bandwagon and have come up with their own health warning signs that may actually cause you to become frightened. Unlike the FDA’s rules on health warning signs for tobacco packaging in the US, countries like Great Britain have take rather drastic steps in comparison—steps that are designed to scare current smokers out of their wits and deter future smokers from ever taking to the habit in the first place.
What is the difference between health warning signs in the UK and the US?
The main difference between health warning signs on tobacco packaging between Britain and US, is that the US just offers remedial text on the side of the package that rarely gets read. However, in the UK, and many other countries in Europe, health warning signs appear printed on the front of the packaging. Large skull and crossbones greet users telling them one thing: “Smoking Kills!”
Does this really work?
Not surprisingly, the gimmick rarely works as the UK experiences as many people who take up the habit as any other country. In the end, many kids actually think the skull and bones looks cool, making it seem like it is more rebellious to smoke. Will people ever understand that the only way children will not take up smoking through proper education that begins at a very early age? And even then, you can only hope to drop the percentages, you will never eradicate smoking entirely simply by using health warning signs.
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