The government is considering adopting shock tactics used in other countries such as Canada and Thailand.

A public consultation will be held on whether to introduce the pictures on to packets in the UK.

Do you think pictures such as this will make people quit?

Are the tactics fair? What approach would work? Should the government just leave smokers alone?

This debate is now closed. The following comments reflected the balance of opinion received.

The real push for me was that horrible British Heart Foundation advert with that fatty stuff coming out the end of cigarettes Cara, Leeds

I quit smoking four weeks ago today. I had been thinking about it for a while - it was costing me too much money and I was thinking about my health. But the real push for me was that horrible British Heart Foundation advert with that fatty stuff coming out the end of cigarettes. Well done British Heart Foundation - you have certainly helped me.
Cara, Leeds

I have completely stopped smoking now. Some advertisements on the TV and some other pictures were shown to me by my brother. I don't want have a scary face of a ghost.
Khalid Hamza, Essex, United Kingdom

I don't smoke, but I think people should stop hassling smokers. I bet there some smokers who might have stopped of their own accord, but who dig their heals in because of the nagging (which really bores me when I hear it).
Anthony, England

Are they really serious?? Have they actually considered how much us smokers contribute to the economics of this country. If us smokers "packed it in" where would they get the extra �billions from. The Government gets tax on every pack of cigarettes sold, plus the extra taxes that no doubt go along the way to push the prices of cigarettes up to over the �4 threshold. I'd really, really like to see how the Government will survive.
Karen , Manchester, UK

I feel that this could work. It has been proven that pictures stick in people's minds more than words and I feel this kind of thing could actually prevent young people from starting which I feel is the key in today's society. Although many people are quitting at this present time, I don't see much being done to prevent young people starting and I see many youngsters (under 16 too) smoking away. I would really like to see, if not a ban, then some non smoking areas in pubs. There's nothing worse to an ex-smoker than stinking of someone else's cigarettes and inhaling their ex-haled smoke.
Val, UK

Of course no smoker will ever get lung cancer, a dodgy heart, bad breath or rotting teeth (just ask them). And they all know a Gran or Aunty who smoked twenty a day and lived to be 90. Just ask them.
Dave, Cambridge, England

No more than pictures of crashes will stop us from driving cars!
Ed Malone, Aberdeen, Scotland

Could we have pictures of destroyed livers on alcohol bottles, etc as well? Otherwise this is simply discrimination.
Tom, England

People who smoke already know the risks - why not target fast-food restaurants instead? Jonny, England

Just wonderful! So not only do I have to put up with smoke in the air when I go out I am now also expected to put up with the increasingly "shocking" (read: boring) ads trying to tell people not to smoke! If someone wants to kill themselves this way leave them to it and take these images out of my face. People who smoke already know the risks - why not target fast-food restaurants instead?
Jonny, England

All those Emailers who ridicule this move by saying, "what about putting pictures on beer glasses, fast food wrappers cars, etc." can not get past the simple fact that smoking has no benign level of consumption. Fast food and booze do have benign levels, or even a beneficial effect when used in moderation.
Brendan, Weymouth UK

I smoke - it's probably the one thing I do that's not good for me since I'm vegetarian (nearly vegan) and a cyclist who uses a bike rather than my car whenever possible. As a cyclist I'm sick of having to breathe other people's fumes - exhaust fumes from vehicles that don't NEED to be used. If you want to ban smoking, justify your use of your car first!
Paul, Lincoln, England

I think picture warnings will catch the smokers eye more than the current written warnings, shocking images such as diseased lungs I'm sure will be enough to put a large number of smokers off.
Stuart Griffin, Muirkirk/ Scotland

My boyfriend smokes and has not batted an eyelid from the large warnings written on the packets. The images won't work either. It is too easy to detach yourself from them, unless it happens to you or someone close to you. All it does is make me worry all the more about his health in the future!
Emma, Edinburgh, Scotland

I would love to see these images brought in to stop young people starting in the first place. (I was 13 years old when I had my first cigarette). After many attempts I have now stopped smoking and would really appreciate a non smoking environment. We all have choices, we all have freedoms, it's just that some choices and freedoms are not the same as others - when you inflict another human being to the effects of passive smoking that is not my choice it is yours.
Elaine, UK

How can people not notice the damaging affects relating to smoking? Greig, London

A lot of bureaucracy surrounds smoking and I don't think it will ever be banned, as it should. But the idea of placing graphic images on the outside of a cigarette pack and the annual death toll and disabilities caused by smoking will definitely aid the decline in people beginning to smoke and increase the number of people quitting successfully. I used to smoke. I started at school and continued for five years. It affected my breathing and I gave up, how can people not notice the damaging affects relating to smoking?
Greig, London

Unfortunately they won't be. The only thing that stops most people from smoking is the premature death that smoking will give them.
John Kelly, Cardiff, Wales

If the government are so concerned in the diseased organs of smokers why the heck do they not just ban cigarettes? Oh i know why... because of the amount of tax they make out of them!
Joanne, Birmingham

I certainly hope so! It really ticks me off to hear smokers bleating on about their "right" to smoke. I, equally, have the right not to smoke so take it elsewhere. It should be banned in public places to ensure that those who choose not to smoke, are not forced to do so by simply walking along the street.
Marie, London, UK

What I don't want is a sea of offending images each time I go to buy my lottery ticket - I don't smoke, so should not be have to view such nastiness.
Mike, Bristol, UK

Using doubtful advertising techniques in an attempt to control the lifestyle choices of citizens is not a legitimate way for a government to spend their time or taxpayer's money. This could be the thin end of a very nasty wedge!
Chris, Manchester, UK

If these appalling images can encourage this it's a good idea Tim, Bradford UK

Great idea. As with a lot of smokers I would encourage people especially teenagers not to start smoking. If these appalling images can encourage this it's a good idea. I would however like the same emphasis that is placed on tobacco products to be encouraged with alcohol. A shrivelled liver and a shrunken brain might bring the message home to people who drink to excess.
Tim, Bradford UK

Wouldn't it be more effective to raise the tax on cigarettes to make the average pack �10 to �15 for 20? This would be far more effective in reducing the number of smokers while there would still be a large tax income from those so addicted they keep on buying them.
Lee B, Eastbourne, UK

Sure this sort of campaign WILL make people quit smoking. But I want to ask the government where the shortfall in duty revenue will be gained from? Will the government increases taxes for the majority instead of taxing the minority?
Leon, UK

Make them pay for their own medical treatment as a result for the smoking. It'll shock them once it hits them in the pocket!
Moo, London, UK

The government should follow the lead of New York City, and completely ban smoking in public places, pubs and nightclubs. This would deter people from `social smoking`, and also reduces passive smoking. Although putting shocking pictures on cartons, I feel that reducing the ease with which people can light up will reduce the numbers of people smoking.
Paul, Barrow, England

The government should inform, but it has no right to inflict aversion therapy on the public Bryan, Edinburgh

The government should inform, but it has no right to inflict aversion therapy on the public - surely no more than brainwashing. If they do this, then what next? Pictures of skin cancer victims in holiday brochures, perhaps, or pictures of liver cirrhosis hanging above the bar in pubs or even pictures of broken limbs in ski shops.
Bryan, Edinburgh

What is the point? You might as well insist all cigarette packets are coffin shaped. It won't make a difference.
Robert Leather, Manchester, UK

I think this horror pictures on cigarette packets are a great idea, however I believe the government should also focus on helping people more by introducing more anti-smoking clinic and investigate why people smoke in the first place.
George Nipah, England

I strongly believe that those of us who still smoke are the hard core who will never give up. The comment about NHS treatment not being available for self inflicted illness displays remarkable ignorance about how taxation is raised. Let anyone tell me that I won't get the NHS treatment I've paid a premium for and I'll stage a display that will have them begging to treat me!
Jane F, Cambridge, UK

This will make little difference. There will always be a section of the population with little ability to do risk benefit analysis. Most smokers will just shut out the images and think it will never happen to me.
Roger, UK

These are only short-term shock tactics Mary, London England

These are only short-term shock tactics. We have seen them all before and after the initial shock you get used to them. They won't make a smoker who has an ADDICTION quit. The only way to make smokers quit is to ban the sale of cigarettes.
Mary, London England

I don't think that this will have as much affect on current smokers but I do think that this will deter younger people who may smoke occasionally as these kinds of images are very off putting and I think would play on the minds of those kinds of people. I do think that it is a very good idea - it would put me off!!!
Kane, Kent

Alcohol and Obesity cause far more problems than smoking ever will, and to be perfectly honest, as a thin person who hardly drinks at all, I get far more offended by fat, drunk people in public than by someone smoking. Shall we ban people with a body mass index of greater than 25 from setting foot outdoors? No? Then leave me and my cigarette alone!
Pete, London, UK

People must be mad to smoke knowing what damage it does, not only to their own body but us poor sods around them. But saying that I am a fair minded bloke - I don't mind anyone smoking next to me - as long as they don't breath out!
Iain Wakefield, Burton-upon-Trent

All smokers want to quit, they're lying if they tell you otherwise Stuart, Baldock, United Kingdom

All smokers want to quit, they're lying if they tell you otherwise. Only by examining for themselves the evidence of the nicotine trap will they have a chance to become free. Spend the advertising money on something that will make a difference not just more of the same old junk.
Stuart, Baldock, United Kingdom

If everybody in the UK simply quit smoking, the government would be deeply unhappy especially Gordon, as a major source of his income has now gone, and we will all be forced to pay higher taxes. If people want to kill themselves, let them get on with it.
Paul, Maesteg

As an ex-smoker, in my view, those images work. Especially the fatty one. Indeed, it worked so well that it made me start a diet and double my weekly work out.
Mustafa Yorumcu, UK/Turkey

Some of the puritanical views expressed in this discussion are exactly the reason why I won't give up. Comments such as 'we would have a more intelligent and healthier species without smokers' seem absurd and almost fascist. Vote against the health fascists and the nanny state and spark up a ciggie!
Dan, London, UK

Does the government want us to stop smoking? an Buchanan, Mews, England

The real question is "Does the government want us to stop smoking?". With �7 billion pouring into the treasury every year and countless millions saved on not having to provide services and pensions for people who have needlessly died through smoking, what would the government do if we all gave up? That money would have to come from somewhere. Until the government break the link between the treasury and smoking we can never take the governments claim that they want us to stop seriously no matter how hard hitting these campaigns are.
Ian Buchanan, Mews, England

Smokers not only kill themselves but the people around them. I find smoking dirty and a pain on those who do not. Let them smoke but double the price on a packet and keep them away from us who do not smoke. Pictures on packets will not deter the hard smokers. Ban smoking in public places is one option. But hitting them hard in the pocket is the better option.
Mike Williams, Maidstone Kent England

My wife smoked 20 cigarettes a day and nothing seemed to make her want to stop until she saw the adverts with the dripping fat John K, Lincs, UK

Yes, my wife smoked 20 cigarettes a day and nothing seemed to make her want to stop until she saw the adverts with the dripping fat, she now hasn't smoked for two months. This aversion advertising does work.
John K, Lincs, UK

I agree with the comments about also putting warnings on fast food, etc, but as smoking has a direct effect on the health of the non-smoking population, it should be targeted as a priority. Then tax fast food to make up the loss. We are already taxed heavily on fuel and cars.
Jan, Edinburgh, Scotland

Yes, shock tactics do work for some. My mother took me to see my uncle who had lung cancer when I was young, and it put me off smoking for life!! Also, revenue from smoking is irrelevant, you're allowed to smoke for one simple reason. When you die before retirement age you save the government a lot of money!!
Paul, Preston, Lancashire

Lets stop being a 'big brother 'country, people need to make their own choices and live with the consequences! It would seem that life in general is dangerous with all the lists of bad for you items it is amazing there are so many of us alive to tell the tale! I am a non smoker by the way!
MM, Scotland

You can't shock someone into quitting Henrietta, London, UK

Anyone who has read Allen Carr will know that no amount of "shocking" images is ever going to make a blind bit of difference to a smoker. Does showing obese people pictures of clogged arteries help stop them over eating? No, it doesn't. You can't shock someone into quitting, they will just block out all thoughts of the images and convince themselves (easily) that it will never happen to them. The only way to succeed is to show the smoker that his "addiction" and reasons for smoking are completely and utterly meaningless.
Henrietta, London, UK

Speaking as a twenty something female ex-smoker I wouldn't have wanted to pull out a packet of cigarettes in a pub with those pictures on, or have a pack fall out of my handbag at work. It would be just plain embarrassing.
Jessica Johnson, England

I agree with the comment about dog foul, these images will not put people off smoking, or starting smoking as we already know the consequences, these pictures just make normal members of the public feel sick. I do not want to see the inside of someone's brain whenever I walk into a shop!
Jenna Phillips, Surbiton, Surrey

These images will help those smokers who want to give up but struggle with willpower Alison, Leeds, UK

These images will help those smokers who want to give up but struggle with willpower. The reminder on the packet will help them. For the determined smoker, they'll block out the images or make a joke out of it. Sure the government makes lots of tax money from smokers, but are we really too jaded to think they'd rather have the cash than a healthier populace?
Alison, Leeds, UK

Perhaps Gordon Brown will, in the interests of fairness, provide details also of how much revenue he takes. He could also do this with alcohol and petrol. The reason that Blair and Brown won't ban smoking completely is that even after the costs to the NHS they make a decent "profit" which they can then waste as they do with all revenue taken from the public.
Guy, London

Find some really gross ones to remind me why I am quitting! Caroline, Manchester, UK

I don't know about stopping current smokers - you have to be very good at blocking out all that stuff to still be able to light up. But I think it will certainly stop people from starting. I have had duty free from Canada and thought then if English cigs had those pictures on them there was no way I would have started! We have the same sort of shock tactics for drink driving so I say go for it - and find some really gross ones to remind me why I am quitting!
Caroline, Manchester, UK

If it is fair to have images of the consequences of smoking on the sides of packets then there should also be pictures of the consequences of fast foods on burger wrappers.
David R, Plymouth, UK

Those who keep on about the burden smokers place on the NHS seem to forget the huge extra contribution that a smoker makes to the treasury through his or her habit. The treasury makes around �7 billion a year from the duty on tobacco. Obesity is also a great burden on the NHS, but I don't hear any calls for an 80% premium being paid on high fat food or for those over a certain weight being asked to pay 'fat insurance' before being permitted treatment. I would dearly love to know what the distinction is.
Tony, England

Smoking is a deadly and disgusting habit. Why should it be painted as something it is not? We should be showing smokers (especially young ones) the true dangers and what it can do to your body.
Alan, Scotland

I just cannot understand why people would choose to do something that has been proven to cause disease and death Lou, West Midlands, UK

I just cannot understand why people would choose to do something that has been proven to cause disease and be the cause of death. I believe smoking should be banned. I know smokers will say they are advocating their right to as they wish in this free world but what about the rights of individuals who don't want smoke blown in their face whilst they are waiting for a bus? I know the ban will never come but I'll keep my fingers crossed anyway!
Lou, West Midlands, UK

Contrary to popular belief, smoking does not cause "rotting" teeth - it causes staining on teeth (not harmful), and it contributes to gum disease, which causes healthy teeth to become loose and fall out.
Steve, Bristol UK

I think shock images are an excellent idea. As an ex-smoker myself, having given up at new year, I found the BHF TV campaign that coincided with this a helpful reminder of why I was quitting. I think that exending this on to packets will serve to remind people how important it is they give up.
Dan, Balham, London, UK

As an ex-smoker, I know that images like this will not scare people into giving up. I also feel that smokers are being victimised. A far greater problem is that of dog fouling. The British countryside and seaside have become one big dog's toilet. I would like to see dogs, not cigarettes, banned from public places.
Glenn Walton, Bramley, UK

As someone who has only recently quit smoking, I think the pictures are a great idea. The ad featuring the fat in a smoker's artery is so horrible it reinforces my quit every time I see it. The pictures would only serve to make me more determined never to smoke again.
Katie, Norwich, UK

The way I see it is that the government should totally ban smoking. Of course, the tax from smoking is to good to refuse
Alastair, Nottingham, England

I don't think the images will make the hardcore smoker stop, but they may persuade young people not to start. My 12-year-old son is so disgusted with the images that I do not think he will ever smoke in his life!
Guru, London, UK

Does this mean we will get pictures of diseased livers on our pint glasses and pictures of road accidents on the side of our cars? Or maybe an image of an obese person on our McDonalds? This is another waste of tax-paying smokers' time and money.
Ross, Glasgow, UK

I doubt the new tack will make a great difference. The dangers of tobacco have been so heavily publicised that most smokers must have taken a firm decision to exercise their freedom to smoke in spite of the risk. A more extreme line of publicity will simply harden their resolve and give smoking a daredevil anti-authoritarian appeal that does a very effective job of making cigarettes appeal to certain sorts of people.
Ian, Bath, UK

If people are stupid enough to kill themselves with any drug, they should be encouraged to do so, but only in their own homes, where they are not poisoning everyone else. Of course NHS medical treatment, which we all pay for, should not be available for self-inflicted illness.
Steve, Bristol, UK

The more "do-gooders" nag me the more likely I am to carry on, and last time I looked I was old enough to make up my own mind. And before you decide banning is a good plan, consider what is going to have to be taxed more to make up for the loss of revenue, and ask yourself if YOU want to pay for me quitting.
Ian, UK

In Canada, the introduction of stark images on cigarette cartons has simply lead to the marketing of "decorative" cigarette packet covers to hide the offending images. Quite simply people can buy into the "out of sight, out of mind" mentality.
Neal, Toronto, Canada

I don't know why we're bothering. Everyone knows what smoking does. Images like this aren't going to teach someone who chooses to smoke anything they don't know already. As a species, we should just let smokers do what they want in confined spaces where the rest of us don't have to breathe in their toxic fumes. It makes sense: the less intelligent of the species will kill themselves through choosing to smoke, and the fittest survive and thrive. We thus end up with a stronger and more intelligent species. Let them be.
Patricia, London, UK

Smokers already know that it kills them and I'm not sure good information automatically makes people take good choices. Smoking should be treated as the drug addition it is.
Kevin, Coventry, UK

Having just left hospital following a heart attack, to which smoking (40 cigarettes a day) was certainly a contributing factor, it's my opinion that any and every measure which could help to break this dangerous addiction should be welcomed. I can assure people that the pain to the sensibilities caused by these ads is laughable compared with that of a heart attack!
Alan, Harlow, UK

As a smoker, who has quit before but started again, these pictures won't put me on the path off quitting. It may for other people, but I think it won't work like hoped. The only reason I'd want to give up smoking is because of how expensive it is, not the health risks... live fast die young?
Adam, Stafford, UK

I find these images offensive in the extreme. As a smoker who has tried to quit on several occasions, I know that scare tactics do not help people to kick the habit and in fact have quite the opposite effect. Whenever I see one of these ads, my immediate reaction is to reach for a cigarrette. Granted, the campaign may discourage young people who do not smoke from ever starting but as regards those of us who are trying to quit, the ads are more of a hindrance than a help.
Alan Edge, London, UK

I do not think these pictures will work as, being an ex-smoker, I can tell you this: the "other guy" mentality definitely rules among smokers. They always believe it will be someone else who gets lung cancer etc. So I have an alternative suggestion. Why not print pictures on the cartons of what an average smoker could buy after a year or two if they'd quit and saved the money up instead? Now THAT would have an impact I bet!
Max, UK

Not being a smoker myself, or a drug abuser, or a car driver, or a fur wearer, or an arms exporter or a member of any other group targeted by "shock tactics", I'm getting heartily sick of having intentionally foul and increasingly disgusting images rammed down my throat every time I turn around. If any of these images were used to promote a product they'd be banned, and quite rightly so. Enough double standards no matter how "worthy" the cause.
Sam, Bristol, UK

What another waste of money and time. This tactic was employed in Singapore a number of years ago when I was living there and had the impact of a small insect on a car windshield travelling at 5mph. Shock images won't help stop people smoking it will just make them more aware to avoid adverts and information that it is trying to put across. The only way to stop people smoking would be to put a country-wide ban on cigarettes! But that is an even more stupid idea than schock images. People will smoke and continue to smoke, it's a part of out society now and nothing but will power, education and help when needed can stop people from smoking.
Guy, Exeter, UK

Why don't they just put an electric shock on to cigarette packets?
Jon, Leicester, UK

I firmly agree with shocking pictures on cigarette packs - they worked for me! There has been aggressive advertising in Canada as to the effects of smoking including a very brave lady, Barb Tarbox, who recently died of smoking induced cancer. I quit at the New Year, helped largely by such advertising and the horrible pictures on packs. There will always be "ostriches" who stick their heads in the sand and those who foolishly wish to complain about the advertising. There IS free choice but let's try to do all we can to prevent the younger generation from starting to smoke. If these pictures prevent one person from smoking I'm all for them.
Kathleen Hancock, Alberta, Canada

Pictures won't stop me smoking, I shall just take the cigarettes out of the packet and put them in my cigarette case!
Ann, Stevenston, UK

I am trying to stop the habit as I write. I am 61, have stopped for 11 days in order to give the tablets I've just been prescribed a chance to do their work. My teeth are in very good order as are the gums and my lungs. The tactics did not work on me. I'm lucky to have had a medical which highlighted my lifestyle and it is only fair that I stop to help the medics do their work on me.
Peter Collins, Liverpool, UK

I think it's a great idea. Half my friends have given up smoking thanks to the "fatty white stuff" advert. Putting it on cigarette packets will put people off, I think.
Rachel Dales, Malton, UK

The majority of people, like me, don't smoke. We can do without nauseating adverts and gory images intended to influence the smoking minority. After all, if they still buy packets with "smoking kills" in big letters on them then these images are unlikely to change anything. I've thought of one solution that I believe to be fair and effective in stopping people smoking: encourage insurance firms to create "smoking insurance", arranged to completely cover the cost to the NHS of diseases contracted as a result of smoking. Then make it illegal to sell cigarettes to anybody not producing an insurance card.
(Dr) Andrew Edmonds, Woburn Sands, UK

I haven't personally heard of anybody giving up smoking due to these images being introduced on cigarette packets here in Canada - but I know the sales of cigarette cases have increased.
Steve, Toronto, Canada