Grisly images to deter smokers

Graphic images make nearly half of smokers cut back or quit, according to Canadian research.

Grisly picture warnings of the damage smoking can do to people's bodies could start appearing on cigarette packets in New Zealand in two years.

The country must increase the size of health warnings on tobacco products to meet standards set by the World Health Organisation's Convention for Tobacco Control. A briefing on the preferred options will go to Health Minister Annette King within three months.

Anti-smoking lobby group Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) has released graphic pictorial warnings it would like to see on all cigarette packets.

The pictures show lung diseases such as emphysema, mouth disease and throat cancer and are similar to those used in several countries, including Australia, Canada and Brazil.

Ash director Becky Freeman said people might initially feel fear and disgust but Canadian research had found that 47.4 per cent of adult smokers who had seen and read the pictorial warnings tried to quit smoking or reduced their cigarette consumption.

About 4500 New Zealanders die each year as a result of smoking and Ms Freeman said even small changes in the total consumption of tobacco had enormous public health implications.

The protection of corporate trademarks and business rights must not be given priority over the protection of human health and life, she said. Ash wanted the remaining portion of the cigarette packet not allocated to picture and text health warnings to be white with black text only.

Ms Freeman said the tobacco industry had disguised the dangers of smoking by associating it with gorgeous models and slogans such as "Enjoy a cooler kind of mild" or "You've come a long way, baby."

But Carrick Graham, director of corporate affairs for British American Tobacco (New Zealand), said the health risks of smoking were well-known and existing warnings such as "Smoking Kills" were clear.

Picture warnings might change smokers' attitudes but not necessarily their behaviour.

Mr Graham said New Zealand already had some of the toughest tobacco legislation in the world in terms of sale restrictions and where people could smoke, and it was now reviewing the regulations again.

"Smokers already feel somewhat ostracised. I'm not sure it's a good idea if 700,000 New Zealanders are denigrated or demonised in the choice they make of buying tobacco products."

Dr Ashley Bloomfield, the Ministry of Health's chief adviser public health, said public consultation and research on the size, number and placement of warnings, including pictorial messages, had been completed.

The tobacco industry and health groups would also be consulted.

Health warnings had to be on products before February 2008 and would probably appear from March 2007.