The warnings that have been gracing cover of cigarette packets like that of diseased lungs and other such graphic warning labels could help to cut the number of smokers. This has been suggested by a new study.
Researchers looked at the effect these graphic warning labels on cigarette packs had in Canada and found that there has been a 12 percent to 20 percent decrease in smokers from 2000 to 2009. This model if applied to the United States could reduce the number of smokers between 5.3 million and 8.6 million smokers, and the same could be the result elsewhere.
The researchers also said that a model in 2011 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that assessed the effect of graphic warning labels significantly underestimated the impact.
In the new findings it was indicated that the potential reduction in smoking rates is 33 to 53 times larger than the estimation that was made in the FDA’s model. Study lead author Jidong Huang, of the University of Illinois at Chicago, said in a news release, "These findings are important for the ongoing initiative to introduce graphic warnings in the United States. The original proposal by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was successfully challenged by the tobacco industry, and the court cited the very low estimated impact on smoking rates as a factor in its judgment."
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