The government's plan to discourage people from smoking by
insisting cigarette packets carry images of skulls, blackened teeth
or diseased lungs could actually lure youngsters to take up the
habit, an expert said this week.
Zhao Cuiping, a youth expert, said: "Research conducted over the
past decade has shown that young people like scary images, like
skulls, much more than pleasant ones like cats and dogs.
"Rebellion, curiosity and craving for stimulation are the
character traits of this group. So putting a skull on a pack of
cigarettes might well attract a young person to take up
smoking."
Zhao was speaking in response to comments made at a lecture last
week by an official from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and
Prevention.
He said that in line with the WHO's "Framework Convention on
Tobacco Control", which China joined in 2006, from January 2009,
all cigarette packets must carry one of the "offensive" images and
that it must cover at least 30 percent of the surface area. China
currently has 350 million smokers.
And according to a report by Ma Jun, a professor at Peking
University, the age at which people are taking up smoking is
getting younger.
An official with the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, who
asked not to be named, said it was still possible the images might
not be used.
(China Daily September 13, 2007)