Cigarettes With Skulls

Another hilarity. Apparently, the Chinese government doesn't think its citizens are literate, so a picture of a diseased lung will hopefully prevent Chinese from smoking.

Chinese cigarette packs will have skulls, blackened teeth or diseased lungs printed on them in the latest effort to tackle smoking, but one expert said the images may actually attract younger people to take up the habit. The images would have to take up at least 30 percent of the pack's surface area under rules that would come into force from January 2009, the Beijing Morning Post said, citing an official at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Similar images are already printed on packs in countries including Singapore, Thailand and Canada. A packet of cigarettes can cost as little as 8 cents!!

Fun Fact (depressing): Chinese are the world's most enthusiastic smokers, with a growing market of more than 300 million making it a magnet for cigarette companies and a focus of international health concern. The average age people take up smoking in some parts of the country had fallen to as low as just over 10, even as efforts are stepped up to curb the habit, the newspaper added.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070912/od_nm/china_health_smoking_odd_dc;_ylt=AsXui1mENo2GHwMDoynDf6qs0NUE