if the medical association has proven that smoking is bad why do the cigarette labels say may?

Question

Drinking is bad for your health. By choosing to sit in a bar and get drunk and then driving home you not only put your own life in danger but the life of people innocently driving on the road with you. If the surgeon general was so damn positive that smoking causes all sorts of health problems than his warning label would say does cause instead of may.

Answer 1

Only one of the Surgeon General warnings on cigarette packs has the word "may" in it, and it refers to birth defects. Obviously not every pregnant woman who smokes will have a child with birth defects, but they are at a higher risk.

Answer 2

Because while there is a definite cause and effect, 100% of smokers do not get lung cancer. I'd agree that the label is probably no longer necessary though. I consider lung cancer yet another example of Darwin at work - the stupid are weeded out by deliberately causing harm to their own bodies. Just so long as the laws keep them from smoking in open places, restaurants and bars, I'd say take the label off.

Answer 3

Drinking is bad for your health if you ABUSE alcohol. There is nothing beneficial about smoking in any amount...unless perhaps you are smoking one or two cigarettes a day...and who does that? But beyond that, nothing is 100%. The vast majority of people who smoke will experience health problems (some minor...some major) as a result, but not 100% of them...hence the "may."

Answer 4

Because some people smoke all the lives and never get lung or heart disease. Some people may smoke only a few cigs a day, others die of diseases and accidents that had nothing to do with cigarettes.

Answer 5

They say "may" because like everything, cigarettes effect people differently. Smoking cigarettes may cause some people to age fast while it may do something else to other people but all cigarettes still cause major health damage no matter who they are.

Answer 6

Its because theyre probably expirimenting and then get addcited but its not cool at all Im 13! 13 AND SEE KIDS MY AGE SMOKE ill never ever ever ever smoke because if everyone actually found out whats in it and what it does to your lungs and it gives you mega wrinkles and bad teeth its made of tar TAR thats what my driveway is make of for crying out loud...when you see a guy working on a driveway with all those chemicals you wouldnt drink it! And Mercury for crying out loud talk about cancer causer! Its really sad to be honest... not to mention the influence on kids like me....I hope you and I made some people think because id be proud of myself if i opened even one persons eyes!

Answer 7

Nothing is 100%, you may get lung cancer, but smoking may not have been the cause (Chris Reeves wife Dana never smoked, yet died of lung cancer, my mother quit 25 years before she died of it). Some people smoke all their lives and then die of old age at 90.
Well, that and the fact that the tobacco companies get away w/ what they can get away with; they aren't stupid.

Answer 8

It says may because they are trying to sell you a product- and they try to come up with research that contradicts the negative findings so that they can still sell you the cigarettes.
Basically, someone probably paid a hell of a lot of money for that may...
You should watch the movie "thank you for smoking"- it's a parody of a tobacco lobbyist and brings up this kind of issue. It's hilarious.

Answer 9

just because you smoke does not meanm you will get cancer, etc. it is only a possibilty. just like cell phones have been linked to brain tumors, not everyone who uses them will get one