New Labels For Cigarettes Revealed

By drodriguez
06.21.11

11 Add your comment

The FDA has released nine graphic warning images that cigarette makers will be required to use on their packaging as of September 2012.

Warning messages including " Smoking can kill you," "Cigarettes cause fatal lung diseases" and "Tobacco smoke can harm your children" are paired with images of cancer infected body parts, a corpse, and a crying baby, among others.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg estimates that in its first year, the new campaign could cause as many as 213,000 established smokers in the United States to quit, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Cigarette companies in Canada, Europe, Australia, and parts of South America are currently required to display graphic images on their cigarette packaging.

To see the nine the new warning labels, click here.

What do you think of the new labels? Do you think they will help people quit smoking?

Make a Comment

By Discerningmom
06.21.11

I think the labels will, at a minimum, prompt the diehard smoker to reconsider. I think they would be most effective in deterring the new smoker who is yet to be seriously addicted. I read a recent study that smokers' DNA is damaged SECONDS after smoking a cigarette (although I don't know how extensive the study was), anything we can do to educate smokers, including graphic labels, about the perils of their habit could only have a positive impact.
By jemappel
06.21.11

I think this is great. Anything that helps one person smoke one fewer cigarette makes it worth it in my opinion.
By msfriendly
06.21.11

If anything might help, this should be it!
By Trishy
06.21.11

I seriously doubt that these images will reduce smoking. People already know that cigarettes are very very bad for your health and they know the consequences and they still do it. They raised the tax on cigarettes so less people will buy them and yet it did not really help.
By bvalentino1
06.21.11

Don't know until we try - my husband smokes - I hate it and that isn't enough for him to quit, the patch didn't work for him - the gum either. Maybe if people keep seeing these images enough it might make a difference. All I know is that it is a nasty addiction.
By didama
06.21.11

Its about time! Hopefully, this also startles the "lighter" smokers.
By Meechhh
06.22.11

Hey.....Try ANYTHING! My brother and sister smoke. I can already see the affects in my older sister. It scares me and makes me mad at the same time. I feel like saying "its not fair that I will someday have to take care of you and your children." But then i feel horrible to even think of something so awful like that. My boyfriend quit knowing how much i disliked it (and with the help of chantax). Anything to make it look more ugly and scary - the better.
By w2005blc
06.22.11

My father is battling lung cancer and maybe it was caused by smoking or maybe it was caused by his parents smoking in his house years ago before they even knew smoking was bad for you. I've seen what lung cancer can do to a person and it is horrible. I have mixed feelings about these ads and photos. I see it and I want to cry. They need to also worry about funding research to cure lung cancer. I agree that it is a persons right to smoke, but if these cigarette companies are going to continue to make cigarettes they need to donate money for a cure. The American Lung Association is a joke in my opinion and talks about how to green the earth up in order to cure lung cancer. That is not a cure. It might help, but it's not a solution for those suffering with lung cancer. Also, just fyi - there are many people that have never ever smoked that have ended up with lung cancer, so you can't always blame cigarettes.
By lakota664729
06.22.11

I think it will help the new smoker, the older ones that are hook will keep on smoking.
By Mariemomof3
06.28.11

I wonder if they will create labels for the processed foods and the sodas that contribute to type 2 diabetes...