BEING a smoker these days is not easy, and in Canada the pressure not to
smoke is about to increase. The government proposed last week that half the
surface of each packet of cigarettes should carry stronger warnings with graphic
pictures such as cancerous lungs, premature babies harmed by their mothers’
smoking and even droopy cigarettes to show the possible side effect of male
impotence.
Canada’s health ministry has a long-standing interest in using tobacco
packaging to deter people from smoking. A study in 1995 suggested that
black-and-white packaging would greatly reduce the allure of tobacco products,
especially among teenagers.…
