tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post7671677414497593831..comments2024-03-18T17:10:35.838+00:00Comments on The IPKat: Today's European Parliament Health Committee vote on plain packagingVerónica Rodríguez Arguijohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05763207846940036921noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-34135260524530174262013-07-17T12:45:55.148+01:002013-07-17T12:45:55.148+01:00If there is one thing I cannot stand, it's a p...If there is one thing I cannot stand, it's a prohibitionist. Trying to force their views on all and sundry and then bleat when their lifestyle is affected. Sweets, drinks and food will be next - probably laughter too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-82103980691857566722013-07-15T11:18:21.785+01:002013-07-15T11:18:21.785+01:00See more information here: http://www.consilium.eu...See more information here: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/homepage/highlights/council-agrees-on-revision-of-tobacco-rules?lang=nlDaniël Sterenborghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14389888982392845526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-56184066705017034612013-07-11T13:33:33.269+01:002013-07-11T13:33:33.269+01:00It is reasonably clear that tobacco marketing does...It is reasonably clear that tobacco marketing does cause people to start smoking: see the 2012 Report of the US Surgeon General, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults. If that is so, then it is fair to say that the marketing itself causes health damage. The question then is whether the packaging is a contributing factor. I am not familiar enough with the literature to know the answer to that question, but it seems entirely plausible to me that the answer is yes, since packaging and branding is one component of the marketing effort. Given that the issue is one of life and death, I see no reason why the government should require conclusive evidence regarding packaging specifically before acting against it. A patent on a gun doesn’t give the patentee a right to kill someone with that gun, and I don’t see why trade marks should be treated any differently.Normanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17573687140337856397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-42951618515708629232013-07-11T11:30:06.774+01:002013-07-11T11:30:06.774+01:00Regular smoking is not necessarily fatal. I know o...Regular smoking is not necessarily fatal. I know of several octogenarians who were regular smokers and died of things other than smoking-related diseases, and it may be recalled that the world's reliably documented longest-living woman, Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122, only gave up smoking when she was 117. <br /><br />Nb I am not a smoker myself and have no axe to grind either way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-14592152134077880192013-07-11T10:25:26.365+01:002013-07-11T10:25:26.365+01:00Anonymous @ 04.50
I agree that health considerati...Anonymous @ 04.50<br /><br />I agree that health considerations should outweigh all others, but doubt that fiddling around with packaging and branding is the right way to treat health considerations: it's the tobacco products themselves that cause damage to health, not the packaging. <br /><br />That corporations have "human rights" is arguably an absurd notion, but it is one that is now firmly established by ECtHR case law and must therefore be applied.Jeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01123244020588707776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-66677374185123546682013-07-11T10:20:39.685+01:002013-07-11T10:20:39.685+01:00Hooray, up ther Irish! Or, as they would say Downu...Hooray, up ther Irish! Or, as they would say Downunder, good on yer, mites! As has been pointed out, tobaco products are the only items of commerce which, when used exactly according to the manufacturers' directions, will kill you, or, at the very least, shorten your life expectancy and general quality of life. Tobacco represents the biggest cause of preventable death in the western world at least. That the manufacturers themselves, who can no longer deny the nastiness of the products they peddle, continue not only to do so, but also to push their filth with sophisticated advertising, is a mark of their total moral bankruptcy. Therefore, every means possible should be used to stamp out this vile practice, including stopping the product looking in any way attractive. And if that means stripping them of their trade mark and trade dress rights, so be it. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-42600838827390311922013-07-11T04:50:39.355+01:002013-07-11T04:50:39.355+01:00Surely health considerations must outweigh propert...Surely health considerations must outweigh property right considerations in this case. That corporations should have "human rights" is an absurd notion. It is disappointing that the EP is apparently not prepared to resist the tobacco lobby, and one can only hope that more governments find their backbone in a similar manner to the Irish government.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com