New graphic cigarette warnings unveiled

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The federal government Tuesday unveiled nine graphic images that will be required on all cigarette packs and advertising as part of a powerful new warning strategy.

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The images include a picture of a man smoking through a tracheotomy hole in his throat, a horribly diseased lung, mottled teeth and gums, a man breathing with an oxygen mask and a man’s body with a large scar running down the chest. They will be accompanied by messages such as, “Warning: Cigarettes are addictive,” “Warning: Cigarettes cause cancer” and “Warning: Smoking can kill you.”

“President Obama is committed to protecting our nation’s children and the American people from the dangers of tobacco use,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement. “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.”

Beginning on Oct. 22, 2012, any cigarette makers that do not put the new warnings on their packaging will not be allowed to sell their brands in the United States. The warnings, which will replace those that cigarette packs began carrying 25 years ago, will cover half the front and back of each pack and 20 percent of each large ad.

Each warning will also be accompanied by 1-800-QUIT-NOW, which smokers can call for help quitting.

Armed with new powers approved by Congress last year, the Food and Drug Administration announced in November that the agency would require the new images and unveiled 36 proposed images it was considering.

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The final nine were selected after the agency reviewed the scientific literature, more than 1,700 public comments and a study involving 18,000 people.

Public health authorities and anti-smoking advocates hailed the move as a milestone in the battle against tobacco in the United States that began in 1964, when the surgeon general first declared cigarettes and public health threat. That battle made steady progress for decades, but stalled in recent years, with one in five adults and teens still smoking. President Obama himself struggled for years to quit.

“These new warning labels have the potential to encourage adults to give up their deadly addiction to cigarettes and deter children from starting in the first place,” said John R. Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society, in a statement.

At least 30 other countries already require graphic warnings, including some, like Brazil, that go even further than the U.S. messages. Canada, which became the first country to require more graphic warnings in 2000, has seen a significant drop in smoking.

Among the images that were proposed but rejected was one showing a man who appears to be suffering a heart attack, another depicting a corpse in a coffin and another in a morgue with a toe tag.

The warnings are part of a broad new federal anti-smoking strategy. The FDA has restricted the use of the terms “light,” “low” and ”mild,” banned the use of fruit, candy and spice flavorings and is considering taking action to prevent the sale of menthol cigarettes.