The nine graphic images were chosen from 36 images and unveiled on June 22, chosen after a 90-day comment period on the internet in November last year which produced 1,700 comments from cigarette retailers, advocacy groups, health professionals, state and local public health agencies, and the general public.
The US Food and Drug Administration regulators used these comments along with the results of a study involving 18,000 persons before finally picking out the nine images that will ‘grace’ the covers of the cigarette packs.
Gone are the days when vague label warnings occupy a barely visible portion on the sides.
15 months from now, or beginning September 2012, these images must occupy one half of the front and back panels of cigarette packs manufactured for sale or distribution in the United States, and at least percent of each advertisement — too big for smokers and would-be smokers to ignore.
The graphic warnings are expected to produce significant results in the next 25 years. They are designed to warn consumers of the dangers of smoking, discourage smoking, reduce the number of smokers, save lives and increase life expectancy.
The images, paired with text health warnings, must appear on each cigarette pack, carton and advertisement under the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act by September 2012.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that “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 encourage smokers to quit, and prevent children from smoking.”
Expected impact
Come September 2012, each time you pick a pack or carton of cigarette, you can no longer ignore the labels screaming with the dangers of smoking, and the phone number for smoking cessation hotline 1-800-QUIT-NOW.
The images will be there to remind you that with each puff of cigarette, you are courting danger and spreading harm to those around you.
Pictures speak a thousand words, and these graphic images are expected to discourage children from picking up a pack of cigarettes and start smoking, and encourage smokers to quit.
Tobacco use, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is the leading cause of premature and preventable death in the United States, and responsible for 443,000 deaths every year. Tobacco addiction, the CDC states, costs the U.S. economy nearly $200 billion every year in medical costs and lost productivity.
The new cigarette label warnings were proposed in November 2010 required under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act which was signed into law by president Obama on June 22, 2009.
WARNING: Cigarettes are addictive.
Smoking can lead to nicotine addiction which is almost the same as addiction to heroin, cocaine or alcohol.
WARNING: Tobacco smoke can harm your children.
Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke are inhaling many of the same cancer-causing substances and poisons as smokers.
WARNING: Cigarettes cause fatal lung disease.
About 90 percent of all deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease are caused by smoking.
WARNING: Cigarettes cause cancer.
Approximately 90 percent of all lung cancer deaths in men and 80 percent of lung cancer deaths in women is caused by smoking, and nearly one third of all cancer deaths are directly linked to smoking.
WARNING: Cigarettes can cause strokes and heart disease.
More than 140,000 people die in the US each year from heart disease and stroke caused by smoking and second-hand smoking exposure.
WARNING: Smoking during pregnancy can harm your baby.
When you smoke while pregnant, you increase the risk of miscarriage, stillborn or premature infants, and the risk for sudden infant deaths.
WARNING: Smoking can kill you.
Cigarettes kill more than 1,200 people every day in the United States alone. Tobacco use is the cause of death for nearly one out of every five people in the U.S. which adds up to about 443,000 deaths a year.
WARNING: Tobacco smoke causes fatal lung disease in nonsmokers.
Secondhand smokers, or individuals who are exposed to secondhand smoke are inhaling many of the same cancer-causing substances and poisons as smokers and increase the development of lung cancer by 20-30 percent.
WARNING: Quitting smoking now greatly reduces serious risks to your health.
Quitting at any age and at any time is beneficial. It is never too late to quit and the sooner the better. When you quit, you are giving your body a chance to heal the damage smoking caused.
For more information on graphic warning labels and hi-resolution images visit www.fda.gov/cigarettewarnings1.
