Skulls can encourage teens to light up
One of the last introductions in tobacco area was new images which ought to be glued to every cigarette pack. This decision was introduced recently and it was decided to use images of skulls, blackened teeth or diseased lungs.
New introduction was initiated in order to reduce tobacco usage and discourage potential smokers to befall dependent of this habit.
Nevertheless this idea seems not to be fruitful enough for all states, at least not for China, which is the center of smokers. As it was sustained by a young expert, namely these images can actually attract youngsters to take up the habit. In China there are currently 350 million smokers and as the report done by Ma Jun, a professor at Peking University, shows, per annum people who begin to smoke are getting younger in China.
Zhao Cuiping, a youth expert, declared: “Research conducted over the past decade has shown that young people like scary images, like skulls, much more than pleasant ones like cats and dogs”.
Also, he added “Rebellion, curiosity and craving for stimulation are the character traits of this group. So putting a skull on a pack of cigarettes might well attract a young person to take up smoking.”
Incredible, but it can be so. Namely, these images are characteristic for adolescent age.
This affirmation was presented as response to another affirmation, exposed by an official, lecturer, from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Lector sustained that according to WHO’s “Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,” which China joined in 2006, from January 2009, all cigarette packets must carry one of the “offensive” images and that it must cover at least 30 percent of the surface area.”
In conclusion, it was decided to wait for a while with “offensive” images. This was sustained by an official with the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, who asked not to be named.
Maybe, this will wait till government will found another decision, more efficient than skulls, blackened teeth or diseased lungs.
