The American Journal of Preventive Medicine issued a report that stated American cigarette warning labels are the smallest and have the least detail printed, making them the least effective.
Other countries such as Canada, Australia, and Britain have warnings that are much larger and include more health information appearing on both sides of the packages. Some countries even have very graphic warning labels printed on their cigarettes.
A study was conducted to see if these larger, more informed labels could make a difference. The study included 15,000 adult smokers in the U.S., U.K, Canada, and Australia to test the effectiveness of the warning labels used in those four countries between 2002 - 2005.
The research did suggest that U.S. smokers might benefit from large graphic warnings on the packages. The U.S. smokers were least likely to notice their American labeling. The researchers also concluded that the U.S. warnings are poor compared to those in other countries.
It is suggested that the U.S. labels need a makeover and putting quit-smoking resources on cigarette packages might also help.
1. This is a terrible idea. It is patronizing to those who smoke. If the government really thought that cigarettes were dangerous, it would ban them like any other illicit substance. Such hypocrisy.
Dmitriy
http://www.refuter.com
Posted at 10:29AM on Feb 9th 2007 by Dmitriy