The trouble with product labelling
Some time back some bright spark decided it would be a great idea to remove tar and nicotine level information from cigarette packets et al, along with banning the use of 'Light' etc as part of a product name. Doubtless this was based on the idea that all smoking is bad and the people smoking the likes of Silk Cut Ultras (as they were called) were under the impression that these were less bad than filterless Camels, Capstan full strength and so on. While in very, very broad agreement that smoking is not good for one's health, that piece of regulation struck me as utterly foolish at the time, and still does. I switched to smoking cheroots a while back, and occasional attempts to stop (every time I'm trying to charm a non-smoking would be girlfriend...) notwithstanding, it irritates me that I am barred from having any information about tar and nicotine levels of individual brands and sub-brands, but rather have to spot the codewords in product names or presume that the blue tins have the milder cigars.
This came back to me when I saw an item in the Washington Post on research by the Massachusetts health authorities that has shown that nicotine levels in leading brands has risen over the last few years. Over here, we would never know such things, and my philosophical position is that the information should be generally available, rather than the health apparat presuming to infantilise us.
This came back to me when I saw an item in the Washington Post on research by the Massachusetts health authorities that has shown that nicotine levels in leading brands has risen over the last few years. Over here, we would never know such things, and my philosophical position is that the information should be generally available, rather than the health apparat presuming to infantilise us.
Labels: Big Nanny
This entry was posted
on Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 11:34 am.
You can skip to the end and leave a response.
You are daft, smoking can kill however much tar you inhale into your lungs which will ultimately wither away and leave you impotent too!!!
But Ellee, he wants to be daft AND well-informed. Seems perfectly reasonable to me. My daftness takes other forms; perhaps yours does too?
Ellee - you are of course right, but if we are not free to choose our own damnation, we are not really free at all.
Croydonian, you're right - but I hoe that "damnation" is a long, long way off.
Elle - That's the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a while. I'm quite touched.
I dont smoke, never have, but all this smoking kills propaganda is just that,propaganda.
Sitting in a room with a coal fire exposes you to far worse chemicals than smoking , even worse are the particulates emmited from diesel engines the very engines the green dunces believe we should all be using
» Post a Comment