Cigarette pack warnings expected to drive home the message

Dubai: "Caution: Smoking is a main cause of lung cancer" - those little warning messages on cigarette packs are all too familiar for some people, but soon, the message will become harder to ignore.

Starting September, the cautionary notes on cigarette boxes in the UAE are going to become graphic and will include photographs of damaged organs such as blackened lungs and diseased brains.

A picture is considered to be worth a thousand words, but would this be the case with graphic warnings, too? Gulf News readers thought so.

Nassef Nabeeh Naguib, a 60-year-old Egyptian expatriate said: "I think pictures are more expressive than words. You can ignore words, but it is extremely hard to ignore pictures."

Abdullah Dyer, a 40-year-old Indian expatriate, agreed.

He said: "I am a smoker and I think that seeing actual pictures could discourage me from buying a cigarette pack. Smokers usually do not pay attention to words because the font is either too small or the warning statement seems redundant. It will not be as easy to ignore a picture, though."

Smokers always read and hear about the hazards of smoking on their health, but would the message hit them harder if they see it every time they buy cigarettes?

Irene Quiblatin, a 24-year-old Filipina said she believed so.

She said: "To see is to believe. Seeing a picture of a damaged lung on a daily basis would scare off smokers and make them think twice before getting a box."

Other readers said pictures would have a similar effect as words, when it comes to smokers - none.

Markus Stebich, a 48-year-old German expatriate, said: "Addiction does not follow rational thoughts, and while such pictures might scare away people who are thinking of getting into the habit, I don't think pictures would have much effect on chain smokers."