The European Union Parliament passed a new anti-smoking law May 15 allowing governments to mandate the placement of graphic warnings on cigarette packs, including pictures of rotting teeth, cancerous legions of the throat, decaying lungs, and other smokin
The European Union Parliament passed a new anti-smoking law May 15 allowing governments to require graphic warnings on cigarette packs, including pictures of rotting teeth, cancerous lesions of the throat, decaying lungs, and other smoking-induced afflictions. Billed as the world’s toughest anti-smoking law, the measure is aimed at stemming rising health care costs associated with widespread tobacco use; an estimated one out of three of the European Union’s 375 million citizens is a regular smoker.
“This will help reverse the type of publicity that has been out there for a long time,” says Stoy Proctor, associate health ministries director for the Adventist church worldwide. “The new ads are going to tell the story of what’s going on in the real world. In the past, smoking has been portrayed as glamorous, sexy, and macho.” In reality, Proctor says, tobacco causes “skin to turn yellow and prematurely age” and contributes to a range of diseases, including cancer.
But Jochen Hawlitschek, director of health ministries for the church in the Euro-Africa region, says the new laws do not go far enough. He believes that although the new labels may reduce tobacco use, they do not get to the root of the problem. While giving the impression that the governments are serious in fighting against tobacco, Hawlitschek explains, they fall short of actually forbidding the production or marketing of tobacco products.
The law, which takes effect October 2002, prohibits cigarette manufacturers from using the terms “mild” and “low tar” because they falsely imply lower toxicity. Tobacco companies will also be required to cut levels of tar and nicotine and disclose all ingredients in their cigarettes. Under the new law, all cigarette packages sold in the European Union nations must carry explicit health warnings bearing the message, in the local language, “Smoking kills” or “Smoking seriously harms you and others around you.” The slogans must cover at least 30 percent of the front of the pack and 40 percent of the back.
The Adventist Church is a long-standing advocate of tobacco regulation, and has developed a number of stop-smoking programs that are used around the world. In April, the women’s ministries department of the Adventist Church worldwide launched a program targeted at the needs of women who are trying to quit smoking.
