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“Smoking Stinks”

In recent years the California Department of Health Services has waged an energetic educational campaign against smoking. The message is short and blunt and has appeared on billboards across the state. What are some of the messages? “Smokers are addicts. Tobacco companies are pushers. Smoking stinks.” “Second hand smoke will kill 50,000 non-​smokers this year. Smoking stinks.” Another one says, under the symbol of a cigarette pack, “Buy now. Pay later.” With your life, of course. A sign in Spanish states: “Me muero por fumar.” It is a play on words that can be read, “I am dying to smoke” or, “I am dying because of smoking.” The half-​skull-​half-​face photo makes the idea clear.

A different ploy used in some countries to dissuade people from turning to tobacco and nicotine is a brand of cigarette called “Death.” The black package carries a skull-​and-​crossbones symbol and a message that states: “Cigarettes are addictive and debilitating. If you don’t smoke, don’t start. If you smoke, quit.”

Whether the billboard shock treatment’s other gimmicks have any effect on those who already smoke is hard to tell. Over the last six years, though, “tobacco use in California has plummeted by 27 percent, about three times the national average.” (The Washington Post National Weekly Edition) The poster campaign might turn even potential smokers away from this dangerous habit. Certainly those who profess to be Christians should avoid this unclean, selfish vice. The apostle Paul wrote: “Since we have these promises, beloved ones, let us cleanse ourselves of every defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in God’s fear.”​—2 Corinthians 7:1.