Some smokers put off by cigarette warning labels

They can't smoke in bars, restaurants or even public parks in some cities. And when they go to buy a pack of cigarettes, increased taxes are pushing the price sky-high.

And now the labels on their smokes will graphically show the horrors of their habit.

Some smokers say they feel as if they are under attack.

"If (cigarettes) are that dangerous, they should be classified with the other drugs and be totally illegal," said Erik Bell, 39, an assistant manager at the Domino's Pizza at E. Dublin Granville Road and Busch Boulevard.
Bell said he has tried to quit several times since he took up smoking when he was 12 years old.

"Alcohol causes just as many problems as smoking does," he said. "You're not supposed to drink and drive, but there are parking lots at every single bar.

"Drinkers aren't being attacked in the same way smokers are."

Others say they don't really have a problem with the new regulations, including Tuesday's unveiling of nine graphic warning labels that will cover half of cigarette packs starting next year.

The packs also will include a toll-free number for a state-supported smoking-cessation program.

Hayden Schortman, 24, who works for the Service Employees International Union in Columbus, said he understands why the labels are changing.

"But I will say that if the graphic warnings and higher taxes had been around when I started smoking, I probably wouldn't have started at all," he said.

The statewide smoking ban took effect in November 2006. At the end of May, New York City banned smoking at public parks and beaches.

Amy Ferketich, an epidemiologist at Ohio State University, said that taxes and graphic warning labels are effective.

"Motivation is really important; people have to be ready to quit," said Ferketich, who has performed focus-group studies with smokers in Ohio's Appalachia region.

So what keeps people from quitting?

"Most people start smoking when they are kids, and they are not thinking about mortality and health impacts," said Shelly Kiser, director of advocacy for the American Lung Association in Ohio.

"It's an extremely addictive product, which is why programs are so important."

Ohio's funding for tobacco programs has taken a major hit recently. Not only is funding for enforcing smoking bans threatened, programs aimed at helping smokers quit are in danger as well.

"As of July 1, the only people in Ohio who will be able to get help via the quit line will be pregnant women," Kiser said, referring to the toll-free 800-QUIT-NOW number (1-800-784-8669).

"Unless the legislature does something different, when these packs roll out and people call that number, there will be no one to answer the call and offer them help."

Robert Jennings, a spokesman for the Ohio Health Department, said that funding is still being negotiated and that the state will help as many people as it can.

"To say it will only be pregnant women is premature," he said. "But if we do have limited funding, priority will be for pregnant women and uninsured people."