One of the FDA’s new warning labels
Several of the nation’s largest tobacco companies are suing the federal government alleging that graphic warning labels on cigarette ads and packaging, planned to take effect a year from now, are unconstitutional. Claiming their First Amendment rights are being infringed, the companies say the required labeling amounts to “screaming” at potential buyers not to purchase their product, which is itself lawful to produce and sell. The lead lawyer for the tobacco companies calls the new warnings “direct advocacy to not buy the product, as opposed to a straightforward warning.” The companies may seek an injunction against the implementation of the new regulations.
The Food and Drug Administration and the Health and Human Services Department and the officials who head them are the specific targets of the lawsuit. These are the primary government agencies that deal with public health. The FDA announced in June 2011 that new warning labels with graphic photos and the phone number 1-800-QUIT-NOW would have to cover half of each cigarette pack. Warnings first appeared on cigarette packs in 1965 but have not undergone changes in 25 years.
Although the FDA has not issued any comment on the lawsuit, its official Web site notes that “tobacco use is the leading cause of premature and preventable death in the United States” and is responsible for nearly 500,000 deaths yearly from lung disease, cancer, stroke, and heart disease. The agency believes the new warnings are a major step forward in communicating the dangers of tobacco use and expects them to not only decrease the number of smokers, but save lives, increase life expectancy, and reduce health care costs. In particular, the FDA hopes that the gross images will persuade impressionable children and youth not to smoke.
Image credit: © U.S. HHS
Related Links
- Tobacco Giants Suing FDA over Warning Labels Mandate
Learn about the context of the lawsuit involving free speech rights and the graphic new warning labels on cigarette packs.
(Source: CNN, August 17, 2011) - Big Tobacco Gets Top First Amendment Lawyer for New Suit
Read what Big Tobacco’s to lawyer has to say about the lawsuit against the government-mandated warning labels.
(Source: Adweek, August 18, 2011) - New Cigarette Warning Labels Pack More Visual Punch
Learn how the planned graphic anti-tobacco warning labels were chosen and how they are intended to work.
(Source: PBS, June 11, 2011) - Freakonomics Poll: Will New Cigarette Warning Labels Reduce Smoking?
Read how such regulatory efforts are likely to impact smoking.
(Source: freakonomics.com, August 16, 2011) - Cigarette Health Warnings
Read about the FDA’s new warning labels on its official website.
(Source: Food and Drug Administration)
THE PICTURE LOOKS LIKE BURNT CHICKEN.. JUST SAYING:/
my family has been against drugs and cigarettes for generations. and i agree with Nina, i think if someone is bored they should look for entertainment elsewhere.
SMOKING IS SUPER BAD AND IT CAN KILL YOU SO DON’T DO IT EVER
IT CAUSES HEART DIESASE, LUNG DISEASE, AND CANCER. IT CAN AND WILL KILL YOU SO DON’T DO IT EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you look like burnt chicken
yea
why would anyone want to smoke anyways?
so this is how your heart ganna look when you smoke. ewww
uhh this is a lung, not a heart.
HOLY POOP THATS NASSSTTYY!
this is so disgusting
this is so dugusting
thats growse thats why people dont need to smoke ewwwwwww
I know
Thats why i will never smoke!
what and how lungs are thoses and do they thake ur lugs when ur dead
ewwwwww looks like my purse
HORRIBLE SIGHT!!!
thats what happpens when u smoke!terrible happen when u smoke!
That is so gross! This is why you don’t smoke!
my family has been against smoking and doing drugs for generations. I think that it’s just dumb to start smoking in the first place.
i am going to stop smoking dope, man
awwwwww,man
Play informative for me, Mr. innteert writer.
oh my gosh people dont how hamful that can be
smoking is bad for u
i totally loved the idea of the warning labels for the cigeratte packs. and like once i read this i showed it to one of my uncles and he like totally changed and he is in great shape 🙂
ew. looks like my poop.
this is bad for you
sucks to be them
thats mean
that is gross! for all the people that smoke out there you should really stop!!!!
for all the people that smoke out there they should really stop. any one in there right mind would have not even started in the first place. and if u think its cool then you r sadly mistaken
DUUUUUUUUUUDE! YOu have to have serious metal issues if you want your lungs to look like crispy chicken!
ewwww i would hate that so much i hate when people smoke. 😛 ew.
NASTY!
ewww why would you smoke in the first place
EWWWW that stuff looks so disgusting
Why would you do something like that?! People should outlaw smoking!
sucks to suck.
I dream of flying with a mystical pony while drinking milkshakes and eating wood chips, if only the pony could solve my geometry
Vell i smoke and i is healthy!!!
i smoke every day
yum
I GOT TO QUIT SMOKING
your crazy!
THT IS SOO COOL
ad to be them
I hate smokeing
i do 2
smoking is seriously bad..
dude… smoking sucks no matter what
gross! i will never smoke
gross! i will never smoke
P.S I WOULD NEVER SMOKE!!!!!!
YUKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
dont lie
ew that look nasty
stop smoking that crack
ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
ahhhhhhhhhh y would they make smoke in the first place if they knew it was going to do that and they even say it on the box warning may cause lung cancer and gum diseas and in my health class a lady showed actual lungs one that smoke and one that didnt the smoker was all black and torned up and the healthy was pink and healthy looking
WOW this is horible im never ever planning on smoking at all and i seriously mean that i dont want to die f lung cancer i want to be healthy and clean my whole life!!! it makes me wonder why they even decided to have ciggerates any way especially if you can die from smoking them like seriously no one wants to die from cancer!
🙂 thats what i have to say!!
welll i think a population of people die from smoking!!! 🙁
Hia people… This is vewy gross… I have two nieghbors eho smoke…I bet thier lungs are like that picture… Mi niebors died 2 month ago… If yall have parents who smoke, tell them to stop smoking so they live a vewy vewy healthy life…
🙁
the end of the cigarette is very bad for you. but its actually wont do as much damage if you smoke the first half. instead of smoking the whole thing. (my aunt told me about this, i learn a lot from her)
Think about how your kids will feel if you die before you get to see them get married or have kids. It is one of the hardest things to quit but you can do it. Believe in yourself. My advice is to carry gum or mints to keep something in your mouth so you are not tempted to smoke. Trust me, it works.
i love them so good
well almost half of my hole family smokes and the only one that i know about that has cancer is my gram.
no smokin’ peepleessss it be bad for chuuuuuuuuu >.<
smoking is bad for u
hey if u wanna smoke do it :)i quit but for its not that easy
Wow. That’s pretty nasty. I don’t applaud smoking at all.
smoking is nasty. I mean why do people do this stuff anyway.
i smooke 4 packs a day and im healthy i can run 3 miles in 1.2 seconds
You may be healthy now, but just wait till you’re 35 and you have lung cancer and can’t breathe!
On October 3, thirty high scohol students from Mount Si’s Key Club visited the homes of two elderly folks in North Bend. Armed with gloves, garden tools, and determination ..they set out to offer assistance to these homeowners where the labor had simply become too big an obstacle. The students split and stacked firewood, trimmed overgrown bushes and hedges, brought garden beds back to objects of beauty, raked leaves, and filled an enormous trailer with discarded and rotting lumber that was taken to the dump. The best part of this endeavor was the smiles and hugs given by the homeowners to these high scohol Key Clubbers. That so many showed up at their homes to Pay it Forward was overwhelming and one of the most heart-warming experiences I have seen. Way to go Mount Si Key Club!
At least burnt chicken is better than raw chicken
That’s why a lot of people are dying these days!!!
who wrote this THE WEBSITE???
WHOOPS NOT the website the article? :/
Dang………..
smoking is the worst thing you could do
How do I get my mom to stop smoking
I never thought I would find such an everyday topic so enltarlhing!
its funnn
pls poeple shouold stop smoking
I think that people shouldn’t smoke
People who smoke are IDIOTS no one should EVER smoke EVER