The U.S. federal government is trying to copy European nations by displaying striking images of dead bodies and deteriorating lungs on cigarette cases. But as of now, these measures will not be implemented for years.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled against the display of graphic images on cigarette cases, according to an article published by The Post-Standard. Leon stated the federal government would not approve this requirement until lawsuits between cigarette companies and the Food and Drug Administration are settled.

The lawsuits regard the right to free speech. Cigarette companies during the past few decades have been compelled to minimize advertising on television and billboards, hurting personal profits, according to the article. Cigarette cases also display side effect warnings on the side, informing users of health problems associated with smoking.

‘A lot of branding by Lucky Strike and Camel made them look cool years ago,’ said Dessa Bergen-Cico, an assistant professor in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. She also said the recent efforts to put warnings and images on packages ‘certainly inhibits smokers,’ especially new ones.

‘Pictures help better communicate the possible diseases that public health officials are trying to prevent among tobacco users,’ Bergen-Cico said.

Susan Scholl, the internship coordinator in the Department of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition, agreed this sort of advocacy campaign would draw attention. Scholl argued the shortcomings of anti-smoking advertisements in educating the American public.

‘Nicotine is extremely, highly addictive. There are a lot of forces working to make it keenly packaged and appealing,’ Scholl said. ‘I applaud efforts to put these types of public health messages out there, but we need to follow up with education.’

In Europe, Scholl and Bergen-Cico said, many countries are very health-oriented, especially England. Some countries have required cigarette companies to brand ‘Smoking Kills’ on the front of every box and a graphic image on the back.

Scholl has a Silk Cut cigarette box from Europe containing the gloomy phrase and a picture of a body on the back under the headline ‘Smokers die younger.’ Scholl said she doubts the U.S. government will be able to implement such a reform in cigarette marketing.

‘I think they (the labeled cigarette boxes) will stick around in Europe,’ Scholl said. ‘There is a different way of thinking towards public health there. Health care messages just don’t work here, so it will be hard.’

Many individuals, like Scholl and Bergen-Cico, are in support of educating the masses to the dangers of substance abuse. Campaigns like Truth and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids reveal public efforts to help smokers quit and stop others from starting. Some Syracuse University students believe these efforts to reach Americans have been widely noticed, but the effect of anti-smoking advertisements is debatable.

‘I don’t think (branding on cigarette boxes) will help, but it is a good idea,’ said Alexis Brown, a freshman biology major.

Brown admitted that she smoked for four years but quit during the summer.

‘I think that people who smoke are very knowledgeable about what could happen, but they just don’t care,’ she said.

Kelsey Francella, a freshman communication design major, and Ben Shapiro, an undeclared sophomore in Falk, agreed with Brown that many smokers know what they get into when they start. Though neither student smokes, they each know friends and family members who do.

‘People are pretty well educated about it, but it is still a pretty prominent thing,’ Francella said. ‘It is even on the rise with females.’

Shapiro was a little more optimistic. He said these efforts by the FDA and advocacy groups will provoke different reactions across the United States, but they could help motivate smokers to quit and teenagers to never start.

‘Some people might ignore it. Other people might not know how to react,’ Shapiro said, ‘but it might change the way people who smoke approach it.’

While cigarette companies and free speech activists argue the illegality of the FDA’s graphic images, advocacy campaigns justify themselves as proponents of the common good, according to The Post-Standard article. In the end, Scholl said public health is the main issue, and it is one that certainly needs to be addressed today.

Said Scholl: ‘Whether you are referring to smoking, food choices, exercise or whatever, these are all public health issues. Spreading information about these things is vital. We are not hip to being a preventive society. This is partly why we are having a health crisis.’

asmuckel@syr.edu

Published on November 15, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Andrew: asmuckel@syr.edu