New tobacco warnings to get graphic
Published 11:08 am Tuesday, June 21, 2011
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Rotting teeth. Diseased lungs. A corpse of a smoker
Nine new warning labels that feature graphic images that convey the dangers of smoking will be required by the Food and Drug Administration to be on U.S. cigarette packs by 2012. Other images include a man with a tracheotomy smoking and a mother holding a baby with smoking swirling around them. The labels will include phrases like “Smoking can kill you” and “Cigarettes cause cancer.”
The labels, which the FDA released Tuesday, are a part of the most significant change to U.S. cigarette packs in 25 years. They’re aimed at curbing tobacco use, which is responsible for about 443,000 deaths in the U.S. a year.
The labels will take up the top half — both front and back — of a pack of cigarettes and each will include a national quit smoking hotline number. Warning labels also must appear in advertisements and constitute 20 percent of an ad. Cigarette makers have until the fall of 2012 to comply. labels are: a man with a tracheotomy smoking and a mother holding her baby with smoke swirling around them.