Hong Kong Cigarette Warning Label: Smoking May Cause Erectile Dysfunction (Impotence)

Recently, friends visited Hong Kong noticed on the cigarette box in Hong Kong, the government warning changed form “Smoking may cause lung cancer” to “Smoking may cause erectile dysfunction (impotence)”

QQ Blogger thinks the government’s warning is not without scientific basis. He listed out studies on correlations between smoking and impotence.

The medical profession has already found that smoking is one of culprit in increasing the risk of impotence. Previous studies prove that nicotine and other toxic chemicals that hinder the penis where the blood circulation and reduce blood pressure, leading to congestive inadequate erectile inability.

Wake Forest University in United states scientists have discovered patients who are suffering from high blood pressure who smoke compare to non-smokers have 11 times higher changes to become impotent.

Wake Forest University Dr. John Sprangler said, they have studied over 50 high blood pressure patients and found smoking increases the changes being impotent.

Scientists pointed out that right now there are about 30 million people in the United States suffer from impotence, and smoking can speed up atherosclerosis.

Medical researchers in Australia found from a survey to 8367 men, that the percentage of men smoke one pack a day suffer from erectile dysfunction (ED) is almost 40% higher than non-smokers. Respondents are from 16 to 59 years old. 10% of the surveyed supper from ED and the larger percentage of people are smokers.

NetEast blogger said the warning is curse word and went too far. Remember the CCTV news channel has discussed this topic. Cigarettes are killers that threaten people’s health, a consensus has been reached. However, health warnings should not use such words like “causes impotence and die fast…” and other threats. These intimidation-style and curse-type of warnings are intended to form psychological pressures. Maybe they will reduce some number of these smokers. But at the same time it can easily lead to resentment of smokers. And resentment of non-smokers to the smokers hence more resentment of the smokers… this may stimulate smoker’s emotional confrontation, smoke even more fierce. I don’t smoke and cannot understand why cigarette smoking is so attractive, but I am against using overboard intimidation or curse as warning label. I don’t want to see “Smoking may cause the whole family die”.

This reminded me of the lyrics from Dennis Leary’s "No Cure for Cancer" CD:

There’s a guy- I don’t know if you’ve heard about this guy, he’s been on the news a lot lately. There’s a guy- he’s English, I don’t think we should hold that against him, but apparently this is just his life’s dream because he is going from country to country. He has a senate hearing in this country coming up in a couple of weeks. And this is what he wants to do. He wants to make the warnings on the packs bigger. Yeah! He wants the whole front of the pack to be the warning. Like the problem is we just haven’t noticed yet. Right? Like he’s going to get his way and all of the sudden smokers around the world are going to be going, "Yeah, Bill, I’ve got some cigarettes.. HOLY SHIT! These things are bad for you! Shit, I thought they were good for you! I thought they had Vitamin C in them and stuff!" You fucking dolt! Doesn’t matter how big the warnings are. You could have cigarettes that were called the warnings. You could have cigarrets that come in a black pack, with a skull and a cross bone on the front, called tumors and smokers would be lined up around the block going, "I can’t wait to get my hands on these fucking things! I bet you get a tumor as soon as you light up! Numm Numm Numm Numm Numm" Doesn’t matter how big the warnings are or how much they cost. Keep raising the prices, we’ll break into your houses to get the fucking cigarettes, ok!? They’re a drug, we’re addicted, ok!? Numm Numm Numm Numm Numm *wheeze*