FDA reveals bigger, graphic warning labels for cigarette packages

[onehandle]

Source: CNN



Washington (CNN) -- Nine new graphic cigarette warning labels were unveiled Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration, part of the agency's sweeping new powers to regulate tobacco and tobacco products.

Cigarette packages will now carry one vivid color image and one of these warnings about the consequences of smoking: "Cigarettes are addictive"; "Tobacco smoke can harm your children"; "Cigarettes cause fatal lung disease"; "Cigarettes cause cancer"; "Cigarettes cause strokes and heart disease"; "Smoking during pregnancy can harm your baby"; "Smoking can kill you"; "Tobacco smoke causes fatal lung disease in nonsmokers"; and "Quitting smoking now greatly reduces serious risks to your health."

The warnings will cover the upper portion of the pack both front and back. Fifty percent of the package must be covered. The warnings must also cover at least 20% of a cigarette ad. Small ads less than 12 inches don't have to cover as much, but must still have a warning. Each warning will also have a phone number -- 1-800-QUIT-NOW -- that smokers can call to get help if they want to quit.

"President Obama is committed to protecting our nation's children and the American people from the dangers of tobacco use. These labels are frank, honest and powerful depictions of the health risks of smoking and they will help," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in an FDA statement. "These labels will encourage smokers to quit and prevent children from smoking. President Obama wants to make tobacco-related death and disease part of the nation's past, and not our future."

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/06/21/cigarette.labels/index.html?eref=rss_health

[Ian David]

1. ...

[Little Star]

2. FDA should worry about food safety. Everyone knows that..

cigarettes are deadly. What a waste of time & money.

[FLPanhandle]

3. Everyone knows because of the government warnings

Did "everyone know" before the government put the warnings on the labels?

These are much stronger and effective warnings.

[mwooldri]

4. If they're going to have gruesome pictures...

... then that is IMO the best packaging that I have ever seen proposed for cigarettes.

AFAIK the UK just has have to have a big warning in black and white. No "pretty pictures".

Sure, smoke if you like - but now the possibilities of what could happen if you smoke now stare right at you when you take that cigarette from the package and light up.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

34. Then fast food junkies should have pics like this on every bag of French fries

[JDPriestly]

46. Do you think French fries are addictive? I don't, but then, I don't eat them.

[backtomn]

40. Probably.....yes.....

It wasn't only the government doing studies on the effects of smoking. For someone that has smoked for 50 years, how many times do you think that they read the warning......probably once....then ignored it. Government has played a role in this, in the past, but that time is LONG past. It is like education on using condoms.....if you don't know it by now, you have been living in a cave....even at the age of 12. It is a massive waste of money.

[savannah43]

13. Talk about stating the obvious.

Are there any people over the age of 8 in this country who don't know this? Anyone who is still smoking has made a conscious decision to smoke regardless of the consequences. Meanwhile, the food in this country is frequently poisonous and plastic. Corporate food is so laden with chemicals that it doesn't even taste like real food. Try it yourself. Buy some corporate strawberries alongside organic berries. Note how white the corporate berries are inside. They taste different, because they are sprayed with a chemical (Methyliodide that is a neurotoxin and an endocrine disruptor) that hastens their color development so they can be shipped before they ripen. They never do ripen. That's why they stay white inside.
Plastic food is what most people have become used to, and they can't afford organic food. But, the more people who buy organic, the more the price will come down. So you buy a little less food each week. Can't hurt. This will work only until the FDA allows Monsanto and other corporate "food" producers to take over the organic food industry and then we'll have no choice except to grow our own. Then, when Monsanto is the only legal owner of all seeds, you will have to buy GMO seeds each year or you will be sued. If you think this is exaggeration, Google "Monsanto and law suits," "Monsanto and seed ownership," and "effects of GMO foods on humans." That will get you started. The FDA is bought and paid for. This tobacco ruse will look like the deflection it is.

[JDPriestly]

49. "Knowing" and remembering are two different things.

These pictures may just help someone who has already decided to smoke but almost takes one when a pack is offered.

This is a great idea. Those who absolutely must, must, must smoke because they don't care when or how how gruesomely they die will continue to smoke.

But these pictures will give courage to the people who really want to stop smoking but start to falter.

[LongTomH]

75. "A conscious decision?" Maybe they're just addicted!

Most of the smokers I know have tried to quit multiple times and failed!

[valerief]

15. Many people are in denial that cigarettes kill and Republicans kill. nt

[eowyn_of_rohan]

35. Then those who drink alcohol should have pics like this on every beer bottle label

[JDPriestly]

47. True. People have no idea how much harm and poverty alcohol causes in our society.

The spousal abuse and other aggressive behavior is just one aspect of it. A high percentage of crimes are committed under the influence of alcohol.

[BlueIris]

5. Like the losers who continue to smoke are going to care about that. nt

[LynneSin]

7. I wouldn't call them losers

I mean I can't figure out why anyone in this time an age would start smoking but they do.

And I think alot of smokers would really love to quit but just can't do it. The habit is highly addictive.

[RebelOne]

11. I am not by any means a loser.

I have tried everything to stop smoking, even hypnosis. I have tried Wellbutrin. Nothing works. I am now 72 and I have been smoking since I was sixteen. The only time I have ever quit for any length of time was when I was pregnant. Cigarettes and the smoke made me deathly ill. I was I could trick my body into thinking it was pregnant. Yes, the habit is highly addictive and I am addicted.

[LynneSin]

12. My coworker has a mother who is 80 years old and smokes

I told her at this point just let her enjoy her smoking.

You're one of the lucky ones, my dad would have been 72 years old next year had lung cancer not got him 30 years ago. But he started when he was young (his 2 older brothers got him hooked) and it was an age where smoking was never really considered 'unhealthy'.

As for you, if you are still serious about quitting, have you thought about trying e-cigarettes? At least you can get your nicotine without all those other nasty chemicals. And some folks have used those to help decrease their nicotine over time.

[HockeyMom]

41. I used to work in a Nursing Home

They had a smoking room for the residents who smoked. One day a nurse came into that room and starting screaming. Why are these people still allowed to smoke? They should all be in Stop Smoking Program. Smoking is going to KILL them. There was not one resident in that room under the age of 75. There were even a couple in their 90s. When this nurse said this, the entire room burst out in LAUGHTER. A doctor came up to the nurse and said, "These people are not long for this world. They are going to die of something very, very soon. If smoking gives them comfort in their last days, LET THEM. You do not have to come into this room if that is your wish." She huffed out of that room and never said anything again.

If somebody has been smoking 40, 50, 60 years, give it up. At that point in time, smoking dangers are probably totally irrelevent.

[LynneSin]

44. It's funny how random smoking related illnesses can be

I mean my father died of lung cancer. His brother had esphogeal and mouth cancer (was able to live another 20 years after surgery & treatment). Yet their mother (my grandmother) smoked until she was almost 70 years old. She quit cold turkey after my father had died but by then she had already smoke for 50+ years.

It's funny because new smokers will cite they know someone who knows someone who has managed to smoke 50+ years but what they need to realize is smoking related illnesses can be quite random on who lives and who dies.

[JDPriestly]

48. The only danger is second-hand smoke to others around them.

Sounds like the nursing home had that under control.

The pictures are a great idea in my opinion. They may impress a few young people. I know someone who stopped smoking in medical school after dealing with a patient who had bladder cancer quite possibly due to his smoking.

[HockeyMom]

51. They should do a study

I have known people who have smoked for decades, quit for years, only to get cancer years after they had quit. When is the point of no return? They don't seem to want to address that, do they? "It's never too late". Is it really?

[JDPriestly]

53. Instead of "It's never too late," they should say, "It's never too early."

If you smoke. Quit. Why take the risk? You cannot know whether you are susceptible to cancer or not.

Only one of my mother's siblings died before reaching 89. You guessed it -- the smoker. The only smoker in the family died at a much younger age than his siblings. That is anecdotal, but if you look at the research, you will see that it pretty much represents the statistically demonstrated facts.

[woo me with science]

29. Compassion and support are definitely more helpful than namecalling.

Addiction is serious stuff.

[BadtotheboneBob]

36. Indeed it is...

Whether it be tobacco, alcohol, heroin, cocaine, meth, you-name-it, compassion is the order of the day with help and support to those who want to 'kick the habit'. Mean spirited judgementalistic name-calling is what our opponents do. We should be better than that...

[JDPriestly]

50. These pictures may help motivate people to stop.

[Bandit]

25. I don't believe it is designed to get many to quit, but to keep kids/people from starting..

:shrug: Americans show again and again their stupidity, especially when it comes to tobacco..3000 people die from an act of terrorism and the whole damn country goes bananas for a decade. Tobacco kills over a 1000 people a day and America goes ho hum....:shrug:

[snooper2]

33. What habits do you have BluePrincess

few too many glasses of wine?

talking on the cellphone while driving through school zones?

talking with your mouth full of food?

failure to apply antiperspirant?

[Hosnon]

59. Well good morning Mr. Perfect! nt.

[WatsonT]

72. Being overweight and not exercising is also terrible for ones health

but we don't have campaigns like this to discourage that.

Put a picture of paramedics trying to resuscitate a 1000 lb man on the backs of twinkies and we'll talk.

[wordpix]

6. My mother used to smoke moderately & lived with a chain smoker - now she has Alzheimer's

Alzheimer-type effects are linked to extreme air pollution. This conclusion from a study with dogs.

[Kablooie]

8. Yuk. The cigarette case industry will be happy.

[Hubert Flottz]

9. Who in the HELL can afford an entire pack of cigarettes now?

I'm glad I quit almost ten years ago...I can still afford pinto beans and cornbread so far though.

[valerief]

16. +1000

[HomerRamone]

10. How soon before the Supreme Court overturns this? nt

[nonperson]

14. With all these dire warnings why are cigarettes still legal?

While marijuana with all its benefits is classified as a Schedule I drug.

Typical ass backwards U.S. thinking.

[valerief]

17. Cigarettes make rich people richer, the most important thing in the world. nt

[ThirdEye]

19. Perhaps even more importantly...

... keeping that illegal ensures chemical and materials manufactures can continue to make money.

That's an important nuance. Legalizing it would generate a lot of revenue for someone, but perhaps not "them."

[valerief]

42. Cigarettes are legal. Rich people get rich off them. Tobacco, chemicals, packaging, delivery,

pharmaceuticals, hospitals and labs, medical equipment suppliers, and even the government (fewer social security payments to make). Rich people getting richer is all that matters.

[totodeinhere]

67. Prohibition of tobacco would not work. We found that out when we tried to prohibit alcohol and

that failed. It would be the same with tobacco.

[ThirdEye]

18. This is ridiculous

I find smoking repulsive but I think this is over the top.

It reminds me of the constant stream of anti-smoking ads on TV. They always make me wonder, "why is *not* smoking something I have to hear about and think about every single day? Since when was *not* smoking something I have to reaffirm regularly?"

There are so many other places we could divert some of that effort and money towards: how to eat healthy, how to identify over-processed foods, promoting the importance of voting, teaching kids how to think critically and see through marketing, making it cool to be "into politics", understanding how our government runs, warning about the environmental affects of product packaging, etc etc.

[Deep13]

57. Despite a low smoking rate and widespread obesity...

...smoking remains a major cause of disease and the expense necessary to treat it. The constant stream of anti-smoking messages (which seem to be absent here in OH) are necessary to remind children never to start and to persuade those who still do it to quit despite it's highly addictive nature.

[WatsonT]

73. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in this country

not lung cancer.

Seems we need stronger anti-obesity, pro-exercise campaigns with the same 'ick' factor we use with cigarettes.

Hollywood helped a lot with the anti-smoking thing: smokers went from the heros and sexy dames in movies to the villians and criminals.

Now they need to make a point of only casting fat people as villians, criminals, layabouts etc and be sure to point out how disgusting they are.

[Deep13]

76. Smoking causes heart disease...

...and emphysema and a bunch of different cancers.

Not disputing the problem of obesity, but that problem does not negate the damage smoking causes.

[WatsonT]

77. By sheer numbers obesity is the greater threat

and should receive the lionshare of attention.

For instance, if we have limited funds for PSAs should we dedicate most of those towards preventing drunk driving, or educating people about the dangerous of bull-moose during mating season?

Both are potentially fatal.

[Deep13]

78. Well, banish junk food ads from TV and it will. nt

[iris27]

20. Ugh. I'm hugely anti-smoking (or at least, anywhere around me!),

but this is just ridiculous.

[SOS]

21. Question...

When will this photo adorn every bottle of Absolut?



Answer: Never. Liquor lobby too powerful.

[geardaddy]

22. They've had these kind of labels in Canada for years.

When I was on a choir tour in Winnipeg, I saw the mouth cancer labels on the Export A packs.

[bigwillq]

23. That's fine but

are they going to put similar warnings on food, alcohol, cars, trains, planes, roller coasters, bikes, skateboards, etc. :shrug:

[KansDem]

26. Don't forget needless wars for empire! (graphic)

Here's this one, for example:


...or


...or


...or

I particularly think this one is apropos. Nothing says "Bring it on!" like a US soldier killing and mutilating a 15-year-old boy.

Every time an Presidential announcement is made of the "need" to stop the "smoking gun" before it became a "mushroom cloud," or before some bought-off elected official expounds the need to "fight them over there so we won't be fighting them over here," of some dunder-head oil exec-turned-President gurgles "they hate us for our freedoms," these photos would be shown. Or displayed on the "official" Congressional documents giving the okie-dokie to spend trillions for no reason.

Hell, maybe they should be required to appear on the annual reports of the corporations who profit from such "heroic measures."

[FirstLight]

31. [phone]! exactly!

I mentioned the same thing, but spared myself the pics

:cry:


what people want to do to themselves is one thing, but what is done in the name of Freedom and War is truly Horrific...

[krabigirl]

63. This

[LetTimmySmoke]

24. I don't know about this.

It's too much, and will just make people take warnings less seriously.

[joeglow3]

27. Wait wait wait wait wait....Cigarettes are bad for you????

[FirstLight]

28. I'd like to see pics like that on BOMBS & Drones...

pics of dead children, destroyed homes, maimed soldiers...

yea, let's put the GRAPHIC where it belongs

[DreamSmoker]

30. OMG even more regulation will be next

Just how much of this Government do you want to regulating anything????
None of us trust this system as its polluted and politicized to the max..
The FDA has never done a great job in the first place..
Now even more of the fear factor tactics....
This Government is out of control and wants to scare everyone into submission..

[thatatheistgirl]

32. Awesome Pics.

Very metal. No longer will I have to waste time lining cigarettes in my cute skeleton cigarette case

[Auggie]

37. Tobacco companies are making a bigger killing in Asia

While I'm sure this will sting their sales a little here, they'll just try harder to market their product overseas.

[LynneSin]

45. They said in Indonesia, they start kids smoking at a very young age

http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-06-13/news/29651932_1_tobacco-advertising-tobacco-firms-kreteks

Most Indonesians prefer Kreteks, a blend of tobacco and cloves that has become an ingrained part of the nation's culture. They are shared by friends and doled out to cranky toddlers and relatives at circumcisions, an Islamic rite of passage for boys between 11 and 12 years of age.

Ads for Kreteks and other cigarettes regularly appear on television and billboards, and there are no bans in government and private offices or restaurants and bars. Indonesian cigarettes are among the cheapest in the world, costing about $1 dollar a pack. And while selling to minors under 18 is illegal, that law is rarely enforced.

[plumbob]

60. In the US, smokers start at 13, on average. No one ever started after

18, the first legal age to buy tobacco. They HAVE to get the junior high crowd, because they have nearly no critical thinking skills yet, and can still be persuaded that it's cool, because it's forbidden.

If we actually taxed tobacco for the lives and productivity lost and the medical and burial expenses incurred, cigarettes would be well over a dollar apiece. That would be a good thing.

And yes, alcohol should be taxed for the damage it causes, including the fetal effects I see daily in my classroom on a good percentage, say 1/5, of all my students. Their blighted lives were created by their parents, who drank and drank and drank, even while pregnant, and YES, male drinking affects their chromosomes, so men don't get off the hook here.

And no, I have not approved of any military action by the US since 1948, so please don't start there.

[LynneSin]

62. As an overweight person - I even think some foods should be taxed

I live in a state with no sales tax (Delaware) but personally think adding a small sales tax to fast food & junk food that have no nutritional value might help people eat healthier. Even putting just 1-2% on the items would bring a large amount of resources into the state which could be used to help pay for healthcare and weight loss programs

[totodeinhere]

68. That would be unfair to people like me who eat fast food and junk food in moderation and are not

obese. Why should I have to pay more for someone else's bad eating habits?

[Oasis_]

70. I don't think so

Why should the government discourage (via unfair taxation) what people should and shouldn't consume (cigarettes, alcohol, food etc) with their own money? No one is forcing them to consume the products.

Isn't the government overbearing enough?

What about the businesses and workers employed by them that may suffer?

Oasis

[plumbob]

74. When personal decisions lead to public costs, the public is entitled

to recover those costs. There are businesses that should "suffer" because they create damage and are now propped up by subsidies from you and me, extracted without our permission and in my case, against my will.

Or maybe you think the "privatize the profits and socialize the losses" program for the huge banks has worked out well, both societally and for you individually?

There's nothing sacred about business - that's one of the big problems in this country today - just mention that it's good for business, and it's hands off. Well, heroin addicts are good for the heroin business, but as a person who was robbed nine times in one year by just one heroin addict, resulting in loss of tools to earn a living, loss of insurance to recover the tools and loss of a home because of no income because of no tools, I can tell you, I wish for the extinction of the heroin business.

[Deep13]

38. Advertising is about persuading, not informing.

We will never have affordable health care in this country until we get the causes of expensive-to-treat diseases under control. Yeah, we need other things too, but ending smoking and taking to steps to eliminate the worst causes of obesity would be two very large steps in the right direction.

[Arkansas Granny]

39. That's fine, but while they're at it, I would also like to see warnings posted on

soft drinks and fast food. They also represent a serious health risk and they are readily available to children with no restrictions.

[Deep13]

56. Agreed. nt

[totodeinhere]

69. Agreed, but at least having warnings on tobacco products is a step in the right direction. n/t

[DeadEyeDyck]

79. I agree. There should be a billboard outside of

everyone's home.

Warning - Life is Fatal

No one gets out alive

[Ter]

43. By all means I oppose smoking

But is this necessary? I mean, does anyone in this country not know it is extremely dangerous? And that second picture is a joke. My father smoked for 65+ years before he passed away in his 80's. While I certainly think smoking shortened his life, his teeth were nowhere near that bad.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

55. lol - Thank you! -nt

[Deep13]

58. Advertising is for persuasion, not information.

So, yes, it is necessary. I don't care how many people tell a story about some relative who smoked forever and then died old. The stuff kills and it does it in the most painful and expensive ways possible.

[HockeyMom]

52. Garbage Pail Kids

Those cards that the kids used to collect in gum packages. That is what these remind me of.

[John Paul Jones]

54. A waste of time and money...

Does anyone really believe that breathing smoke is good for you?

[Hosnon]

61. Excellent. nt.

[krabigirl]

64. Wouldn't have stopped me as a teen.

[DreamSmoker]

65. This Government knows better

How about grotesque fat people and rotting teeth on Soda and candy rappers...
The Government knows better and will take care of us..
We don't know any better...

[Devil_Fish]

66. Not graphic enough, try these:

[wordpix]

82. I agree & if people don't like it, too bad, it's reality

I believe my mother's Alzheimer's is also caused by her smoking and receiving 2ndhand smoke.

[WatsonT]

71. I think this will be the last little emphasis needed to convince people that cigarettes are bad

for their health.

The constant repetition of that in schools, on magazines, newspapers, television, being reminded daily on the carton itself, the piles of scientific evidence, and their own personal experiences won't do it.

But this will.

Sure.

We should just take a poll to put this all to rest. Ask a good sampling of people if they know that cigarettes might be dangerous for them.

If most say yes then we can drop this whole charade.

[Canuckistanian]

80. Looks like typical cig packs in Canada

Another thing they've done is hide the packs behind shuttered doors.

That way, nicotine addicts won't be tempted by looking at all those diseased lungs and mouth cancers.

:eyes:

[justiceischeap]

81. Cool, new things to collect. I hope I get the autopsy one first.

I'm a smoker, been a smoker for a really long time (since I was 11 or 12). I know smoking is bad for me. I know smoking is most likely going to kill me. However, I rather smoke than take anti-depressants. At least I know what smoking may do to me, though it's not guaranteed.

[Mosby]

83. right now some company is developing plastic sleeves

To hold packs of cigs. Think of all the different designs they could use.

As a couple people have stated this must be directed at reducing the number of new smokers, not current smokers whose addiction is not going to be influenced by a few graphic images.