The new anti-smoking pictorials that tobacco manufacturing firms recently placed on cigarette packs do not motivate smokers to kick the habit, according to smokers interviewed by The Jordan Times on Sunday.
In the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Health asked tobacco manufacturers to place hard-hitting anti-tobacco pictorials on cigarette packs as part of the country's obligations to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
The images aim at raising awareness among smokers on the diseases caused by smoking and its effect on the surrounding environment.
However, these images are not effective, according to Musa Sharaf, who has been smoking for 16 years.
"Whatever they are going to place on the tobacco packs, I will not quit smoking, unless I want to," the 33-year-old, who smokes three packs a day, told The Jordan Times over the phone.
George Theodory echoed Sharaf's views.
"These pictorials have no effect. I open the pack and smoke a cigarette without paying any attention to the images," Theodory said.
Following its adoption of the FCTC, Jordan required local tobacco companies to include an image of diseased lungs on cigarette packs as an additional warning against the dangers of smoking.
The old image occupied one-third of the back of the packet, while a written warning against smoking covered one-third of the front, while the new images cover 50 per cent of the pack.
Before adopting the new images, the Health Ministry said a study conducted recently by the King Hussein Cancer Centre's cancer control office showed the new graphics would increase the motivation of approximately 25 per cent of smokers to quit.
"I don't care what pictures they put on the cigarette packet," said Mohammad Ali, a 31-year old salesman.
"I started smoking when I was 18, and I haven't stopped since then," Ali noted, adding that smoking for him was a pleasure.
"I don't think a picture, no matter how ugly, would make me stop smoking."
Even women smokers said they were not put off by the "ugly" photos.
"I want to smoke, regardless of the anti-smoking campaigns," said Ikhlas, a public schoolteacher who did not give her full name.
Raeda Hammam was also one of those who noted that kicking the habit was "a personal choice".
"Nothing, neither placing ugly images nor increasing the prices of cigarettes would encourage me to quit smoking unless I want to," Hammam said.
Last year, the Department of Statistics issued a report on the status of smoking in Jordan, which showed that spending on cigarettes was on the rise.
Total household spending on tobacco and cigarettes in the country reached JD480.7 million in 2010, compared with JD352.3 million in 2008, according to the report.
The latest study on the prevalence of smoking in Jordan, conducted in 2007, showed that approximately 29 per cent of Jordanians above the age of 18 are smokers, in addition to 14 per cent of children in the 13-15 age bracket, 23 per cent of whom smoke argileh.
Health Ministry figures revealed that smoking cost the country JD1 billion last year, including money spent on tobacco and smoking-related diseases.
According to WHO, tobacco is responsible for killing about six million people each year. It contains over 4,000 chemicals of which 60 are carcinogenic, in addition to nicotine, which is the addictive substance in tobacco.
Factbox
•Total household spending on tobacco and cigarettes in Jordan reached JD480.7 million in 2010, compared with JD352.3 million in 2008
•Around 29 per cent of Jordanians over 18 are smokers, in addition to 14 per cent of children in the 13-15 age bracket, 23 per cent of whom smoke argileh
•Smoking cost the country JD1 billion in 2012, including money spent on tobacco and smoking-related diseases
•Tobacco is responsible for killing about six million people each year around the world
•It contains over 4,000 chemicals of which 60 are carcinogenic, in addition to nicotine, the addictive substance in tobacco Enditem
