Discussion Questions 1. What should be the role of government in driving healthy
ID: 420706 • Letter: D
Question
Discussion Questions
1. What should be the role of government in driving healthy choices?
2. In the United States of America, we have a specific right to free speech. Do you think it is
OK to have such regulations? Could such regulations become a “slippery slope”?
Australia recently began requiring plain packaging and graphic health warnings on
products produced by its $10 billion tobacco industry. This new government regulation will
require 75 percent of the area on the front of the cigarette packs to have health warnings,
along with a graphic image. Needless to say, these images are very striking: a gangrenous
foot, a cancerous tongue, a toilet stained with bloody urine, and a skeletal man named
Bryan who is dying of lung cancer.
As one would expect, this shocking method to deter consumers from smoking has
manufacturers such as British American Tobacco, Philip Morris, Imperial Tobacco, and
Japan Tobacco International fighting back in court, claiming that it is an infringement on
their intellectual property and unduly restrictive of the tobacco trade.
Historically, the United Sates was the first country to put health warnings from
the Surgeon General on cigarette packs. And in 2001, Canada was the first country to
implement what one might consider an aggressive graphic public health strategy. Australia
is now the 47th country to regulate packaging—but its regulations are the most draconian
to date. More regulations are expected around the world’s markets, because reducing
premature deaths due to smoking is a high public-health priority. However, tobacco is
a lucrative industry, and tobacco companies are working on strategies to contest and
circumvent these government regulations.
Explanation / Answer
Ans: 1 -
Explanation: