Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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smokers timeline

watch as you smoke your life away
 
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as an attempt to constantly keep smokers aware of the damage which they are doing to themselves, and indeed others I propose that all cigs are, by law, printed with a graduated scale down their length. Estimates vary, but it is reckoned that each cig takes about 7mins off you life. So as you smoke you see those 7 mins burning away under your nose. Could also be expanded to include guilt inducing messages 'your life' 'watcing your kids grow up' etc. which burn away to ashes. Grim eh?
etherman, Apr 29 2004


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       //Grim eh?//   

       yep.
skinflaps, Apr 29 2004
  

       Like what we see now isn't bad enough. [link]   

       Those are great, fry fry. Need those in the US, I think.
waugsqueke, Apr 29 2004
  

       most (if not all, but i have not smoked all) cigarettes, if you look closely, have 1mm watermarked graduations in the paper. "king" size cigarettes are 78mm long and have 78 1mm graduations along the barrel (about 11mm/life minute lost). 100's have 100 1mm gradations, as you might guess. just need a handy conversion scale printed on the box for the math impaired. no law required.   

       there are 200 cigs in a carton which comes out to just a little less than a day of life lost (23 hrs 20 min).
xclamp, Apr 29 2004
  

       Most of us smokers are already aware of this stuff. If we cared, we'd quit. May well appeal to the nanny state people already putting big messages all over the boxes.
unclepete, Apr 30 2004
  

       so your arguement is // if we cared, we'd quit // [unclepete] and then you complain about the state treating you like children!?! any bloody wonder. if the state really did behave like a nanny you would get a good slapping.
etherman, Apr 30 2004
  

       etherman, the whole 'nanny state' thing would be rather more bearable if it wasn't extorting a shed load of cash in the form of taxes from the sale of each and every packet of cigarettes. If smoking is such a blight on society then it should be banned outright. It's the shameless hypocrisy of finger-wagging on the one hand and taking a cut of the proceeds on the other that completely undermines the case for the anti-smokers.
DrBob, Apr 30 2004
  

       //yet another anti-smoking rant// most of the ideas on this site are about trying to make the world a better place to live in in one form or another. I think finding a way to have fewer people harmed through smoking would also be a useful contribution. I'm not an anti smoking Nazi, even been known to have a puff or two. and remember that, in the UK anyway, the revenue on tobacco is partly offset by the huge strain the results of smoking puts on the health service. But thats all beside the point. Most smokers want to quit(most surveys suggest), this idea might encourage them to do so.
etherman, Apr 30 2004
  

       //I think finding a way to have fewer people harmed through smoking would also be a useful contribution//

...as do I, but that is not what this idea is. It's just a substitute for taking any real action and it's a tactic that's been tried and has failed miserably for decades. I've got some cigarettes sitting on my kitchen table at home and the box is almost entirely covered with a huge health warning. I couldn't tell you what it says though because I don't ever pay it any attention. And nor does any other smoker. And the same would be true of your idea. Such warnings and labels are a device employed by governments to show the anti-smokers that they are 'doing something about it' whilst they continue to pocket the cash.
DrBob, Apr 30 2004
  

       firstly [DrBob] in terms of taxation cigarette revenue is not that significant and secondly, taxation itself is one of the largest deterrents to smoking, coz they're so damned expensive. so if guys like you really dont give a damn about the health implications, maybe you might give a damn about your wallet. isn't it the duty of a govenment to deter its citizens from harmful activities and to promote a healthy society, no?
etherman, Apr 30 2004
  

       Sorry etherman but I've made my point. You can either take it on board or not. It's up to you.

I'm not going to get into either the specifics of taxation or the function of governments because a) it's wandering dangerously off topic and b) I doubt if anyone else here wants to read anything more about it.
DrBob, Apr 30 2004
  

       yeah your right Doc, wouldn't want to encourage any discussions on halfbakery now would we.
etherman, Apr 30 2004
  

       I'm cool with having a discussion as long as it's relevant to both the idea and the purpose of the 'bakery. And I have been known to engage in a bit of off-topic banter on occasion. But the philosophy of politics and taxation is out of bounds methinks.
DrBob, Apr 30 2004
  

       Too laaaaate...
Detly, Apr 30 2004
  

       I think there's enough idea in this rant ("print minute scale on cigarette") to leave it, although I agree that warnings don't work and this isn't an effective warning to begin with.
jutta, May 10 2004
  

       Paging [DrBob].  Paging [DrBob].  Paging [DrBob].  MFD cleanup on your aisle.
bristolz, May 16 2004
  

       thanks for the ruling Jutta, although I should point out that a ablanket statement saying warnings dont work, is a bit of a simplification. The thing is we don't know because the only research into it is done by anti- smoking groups who obviously aren't neutral on the issue. What we are left with is annecdotal moaning from smokers. This doesn't take into concideration whether warnings deter people from taking up smoking in the first place.
etherman, May 17 2004
  

       [DrBob]?
bristolz, Jun 08 2004
  

       Sorry bris. I was having a quiet ciggy in a back room and didn't hear you paging me. All tidied up now.
DrBob, Jun 09 2004
  

       you realise that ciggie took seven minutes o ... ah you know.
etherman, Jun 09 2004
  

       I've heard this 7 minute rule before, and as far as I can tell its bunk. There are no reliable sources I can find (after scouring google and lexis for about 10 minutes) and thusly this idea is not based on any science of any type. [Marked–For–Deletion] on these grounds.
Blumster, Feb 01 2005
  

       Reading these annotations took seven minutes of my.....OK, I did scan through them kind of quickly.
normzone, Feb 01 2005
  

       //Reading these annotations took seven minutes of my.....OK, I did scan through them kind of quickly.//   

       This post took seven minutes of my life away... and I was smoking a cig whilst doing so. Is that fourteen minutes total that i've lost? or did I just live twice as cool for seven...   

       hmm...
photojunkie, Feb 01 2005
  

       No, it's seven you've lost, and seven more you've wasted. You've got fourteen minutes less than when you started.
david_scothern, Feb 01 2005
  

       Well the thing is this is more propaganda than an accurate gauge. It is designed as a deterent not just for health reasons but it lso makes cigs look way less cool. The truth never gets in the way of good propoganda.
etherman, Feb 01 2005
  


 

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