The other day I found an empty cigarette pack along the path. What struck me immediately was how bold the health warning was:
You probably don’t need a translation, but just in case: it says Smoking Kills (literally it says ‘the smoke kills’ but we know what they mean). This is the message that an Italian smoker will see every time he flips open his pack to take out a ciggie.
It’s been a long time since I smoked. I remember the rather tepid warnings that the Surgeon General placed on cigarette packs in the U.S. some years ago. Are they different now than they used to be? Nope. Here’s the sissy warning a U.S. smoker may or may not take note of each time he lights up:
First, it’s on the side of the box where it’s much less obtrusive. Second, though it informs us that dire diseases are the caused by smoking, there’s no mention of the ultimate price: death.
Not content with simply telling us that cigarettes will kill us, the Italian packs go on to tell us how on the back:
Fatal lung cancer. There. Just in case you were in any doubt – your lung cancer will be fatal. Smoke these things and you will die sooner than otherwise.
So are all the warnings over the top? It turns out the answer is a resounding no. Smoking is enormously costly, in terms of money and of life itself.
Infosearchlab.com reports that more than 443,000 people in the U.S. die annually due to cigarette smoke. Of these deaths, 50,000 are caused by passive (second-hand) smoking. In China, 2,000 people die of smoke every day – 1.2 million a year. According to the Corriere della Sera, 70,000-83,000 Italians die every year due to smoking, which works out to about the same per capita number of deaths annually as the U.S.
It’s such a difficult question, isn’t it? To what point should a government intrude in the behavior of the citizens? When does a vice stop being something personal and become something public? I guess given the prevalence of smoking and the expense of caring for all the people it makes sick, government intervention is advisable. To paraphrase an old nostrum about punches, your right to smoke ends where my nose begins.
An interesting side-note that Speedy mentioned: as recently as 2005 tobacco companies in Italy were mostly owned by the government. In an Alice in Wonderland twist, the government was promoting and profiting from the sale of cigarettes at the same time they were instituting dire warnings on packages and limiting where people may smoke.
How much warning is too much? Clearly the Italians are giving a much harsher warning than the Americans. Recently a U.S. court of appeals found that a Washington DC lower court’s ruling that graphic warning images must be put on cigarette packs violated Corporations’ right of free speech. (Don’t get me started on ‘Corporations are people.’) The issue was whether the tobacco companies should be required to put images of things like a man breathing through a hole in his neck on the cigarette packs. The first court said yes; the appeals court said no. Supreme court, anyone? The World Health Organization says that pictures are effective deterrents. Australia has gone to the extreme. Beginning in December they old familiar cigarette packaging will be gone, replaced by gross graphic images like this:
How to reduce the number of people smoking in places like the U.S. then, if you can’t require that disgusting pictures be put on each pack? High taxes is one way. According to Huff Post this is the route Indiana has taken. Placing a minimum price on a pack of cigarettes is another (the theory being that people will not be able to smoke as much if they can no longer buy cheap ‘off’ brands). This is the approach Italy has taken (with some amount of EU difficulty), though there’s debate about whether or not this approach is effective.
So how much does it cost to smoke? Prices have sure gone up since I used to put .35 cents in the vending machine in the basement of my college dorm (it was right next to the candy bar machine, making for a complete, if not well-balanced, meal). That depends upon where you live. If you’re in West Virginia you can support your habit for $4.84 a pack. But if you live in New York the same pack will cost you $12.50. Here in Italy cigarettes cost about E 5 a pack, about $6.
Do Italians smoke more than Americans? According to the WHO again, 25% of Italian males aged 25 and older are ‘current smokers.’ In the US it is 34% for the same demographic. 19% of women in both countries aged 15 and older are’ current smokers.’ And we won’t even discuss China.
Our own observations suggest that there is a lot less smoking here than there used to be, though we still see both men and women zooming around on their scooters with a fag clutched in their teeth. And it seems that a lot of young people smoke – I guess it’s still considered cool. Smoking is not allowed here in any public building – no such thing as a ‘smoking section’ in a restaurant. If you want to smoke, step outside please.
They say there’s nothing worse than a reformed smoker for being anti-smoking. As a former 2-pack a day person I guess I qualify. Here’s the thing though – while I may deplore the fact that smokers cost all of us huge amounts of money every year, and while I will run as fast as I can to get away from your smoke, I’ll never blame you if you’re a smoker. I remember all too well how much I loved smoking, how it was woven into the fabric of my daily life, and how almost impossible it was to quit. I still miss it.
Thomas K said:
Farfalle: You mentioned “For comparison, 23% of Italian adults smoked in 2011 – that year it was about 20% for Americans.” – again, pointing out that it’s apples and oranges – the 23% of Italians who smoke appears to include people at all levels of society, whereas the 20% of people in the US who smoke are SOLIDLY concentrated at the lowest rungs of society – it is so rare to find anyone reasonably well educated working in a professional position who also smokes. Doesn’t appear to be the case in Europe. Puzzling.
Thomas K said:
What a load of bunkum – I just got back to the US from 2.5 weeks spent in Italy (Florence, Naples and Rome). What a bunch of smokers the Italians are – chimneys! You’ll NEVER see anything like that in the US.
So, despite the MASSIVE warning labels – and the higher taxes – the Italians smoke MORE than people in the US do. Hmm, kind of stands your argument on its head.
“No smoking in restaurants” – are you sure you’re writing about Italy? Sheeesh.
(BTW, I’m a lifelong non-smoker)
farfalle1 said:
Thomas, I don’t know what restaurants you were in – it’s legal to smoke only outside now. If you were seated at outdoor tables you may well have been wreathed in smoke (by Italians? Other tourists? We find champion smokers still in Germany, Austria and Great Britain). But if you were seated indoors you certainly shouldn’t have been bothered, and if you were you were well within your rights to complain. I’ll stick to what I said – compared to even 10 years ago we see a lot less smoking here now than then. (I’m a reformed smoker; we’re even worse than lifelong non-smokers, I think.)
Thomas K said:
The line between indoor and outdoor is rather arbitrary… what with sections of walls opening up and the outdoor seating is in narrow alleys. And implying that all Italians are law-abiding is a slight exaggeration.
My point is that the Italians smoke like chimneys compared to people in the US – the main distinction is that here in the US, smoking cigarettes is a solid socioeconomic indicator (and not in a good way) whereas in Italy, people from all walks of life smoke.
The bulk of the smokers were Italian – but plenty of French and other Euro smokers too.
Finally, and this is a repeat from my first comment – despite the MASSIVE warning labels – and the higher taxes – the Italians/Europeans smoke MORE than people in the US do. In other words, the whole premise of your article is torpedoed and sunk.
BTW, second-hand smoking is annoying, but it doesn’t kill anyone – you can stop wringing your hands now 🙂
farfalle1 said:
According to WHO statistics you are absolutely correct – a smaller percentage of Americans smoke than Italians. The smoking rate in US seems to be falling more rapidly than in some other countries – uplifting report just today in the NYT (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/why-smoking-rates-are-at-new-lows/?nl=afternoonupdate&emc=edit_au_20130625). For comparison, 23% of Italian adults smoked in 2011 – that year it was about 20% for Americans. If you think smoke from cigarettes is annoying, you should see the clouds that come from burning agricultural waste here!
Natasha said:
I noticed that you have marble counters. Looks like the unpolished kind…honed? can you tell me abou your experience with marble? Does it scratch\etch\stain? I am looking into using it for the kitchen counters. White marble!
farfalle1 said:
Am away on a trip for the moment – will try to get back to you very soon.
Hilary said:
Ah – as long as young people feel immortal, nothing that gets put on a cigarette pack will deter them. I think it takes a few years and some intimations, if not of mortality, at least of what you owe to those you love and who love you back before the sense of how terrible the habit is can provide the strength to quit it. For me it was that, the fact that I started to feel that I didn’t have quite the respiratory system I had when younger, and that I ended up outside of public buildings in freezing mid-winter months to smoke that finally made me a non-smoker. These days, the price of a pack of ciggies would certainly be a deterrent as well.
phoebestone said:
Debra’s description of what smokers look like is fabulous! It immediately brought to mind my beloved Aunt Dorothy who killed herself smoking. I thought myself extremely cool for the few years I smoked. I’m eternally grateful l stopped so soon and don’t miss it now!
Diana said:
I never smoked cigarettes, though I did enjoy lots of MJ back in the day. Louise, I never knew you as a smoker, but glad you quit! Legislating good health is definitely a tough question – along with the obesity epidemic we have here in the US. My question is why people engage in such dangerous behavior – from driving recklessly, to smoking, to over eating. It is tempting to want to just tax the hell out of people driving up every one else’s costs, but if it is a brain addiction thing, then this is not a fair answer. Certainly I approve of gross photos and high prices if that acts as a deterrent. Good for you, Louise to have stopped. Sorry you still miss it!
Debra Kolkka said:
I have never smoked. My father did….and it killed him. Australia has had those drastic warning photos on cigarette packets for a long time. Soon the brand names will have to be removed from packaging. Cigarettes are very expensive in Australia as well, and as a result far fewer people smoke in Australia than here in Italy. It takes me a while to get used to the stink of cigarette smoke here when I arrive. I support and measure to stop people smoking….it has nothing going for it……it is ugly, it stinks, it makes you sick then it kills you and it ruins your skin, turning you into a withered prune with a cat’s bum mouth. I don’t understand why anyone does it.
Louis Salamone said:
Very well done. Crackers next? S.
Louis Salamone/Louise Schimmel Via San Maurizio di Monti 117 16035 Rapallo, Italia 0185.51044 333.738.3032 (Louis Cellulare) 333.886.2552 (Louise Cellulare)
6217 South Avenida del Sol Gold Canyon, Arizona 85118 480.982.5538 480.577.1520 (Louis Cellular) 480.570.4737 (Louise Cellular)
Louise’s Blog: https://farfalle1.wordpress.com
Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2012 21:24:20 +0000 To: enomalas@live.com