Cigarette packages and advertisements will soon come with more – and bigger – textual and color graphic warnings about the dangers of smoking.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday that the nine new “larger and more noticeable” warnings must be imprinted on cigarette packages by Oct. 22, 2012, in order to be distributed for sale in the United Sates. The new warnings must also be included on cigarette advertisements.
The hope is that more people will quit their habit and that children will not be inclined to start smoking.
“Every day, almost 4,000 youth try a cigarette for the first time and 1,000 youth become regular, daily smokers,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement. “Today marks an important milestone in protecting our children and the health of the American public.”
A third of all cancer deaths are due to tobacco, HHS reported, and it is the leading cause of premature and preventable death, causing 443,000 U.S. deaths annually.
The Food and Drug Administration issued the proposal titled Required Warnings for Cigarette Packages and Advertisements, and the new rules are a requirement of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009.
The FDA is accepting public comment through Jan. 2, 2011, and will select the final new warnings by June 22, 2011.
Despite previous efforts and warning campaigns, smoking rates have remained the same, with 20.6 percent of American adults still smoking – a number unchanged from 2008, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Additionally, only 2.4 percent fewer high school children smoke now than in 2003.
“Today, FDA takes a crucial step toward reducing the tremendous toll of illness and death caused by tobacco use by proposing to dramatically change how cigarette packages and advertising look in this country. When the rule takes effect, the health consequences of smoking will be obvious every time someone picks up a pack of cigarettes,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg said in a statement released by HHS. “This is a concrete example of how FDA’s new responsibilities for tobacco product regulation can benefit the public’s health.”
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