WASHINGTON — Marking the first change in cigarette warnings in more than 25 years, all cigarette packaging and ads in the U.S. will have larger, more prominent health warnings beginning September 2012.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued nine different text warnings and accompanying color graphics to increase awareness of the specific health risks associated with smoking, and empower youth to say no to tobacco.
The nine warnings are: Cigarettes are addictive; tobacco smoke can harm your children; cigarettes cause fatal lung disease; cigarettes cause cancer; cigarettes cause strokes and heart disease; smoking during pregnancy can harm your baby; smoking can kill you; tobacco smoke causes fatal lung disease in nonsmokers; and quitting smoking now greatly reduces serious risks to your health.
Starting in September 2012, the new warnings will appear on the top 50% of both the front and rear panels of each cigarette package, and in the upper portion of each cigarette advertisement, occupying at least 20% of the area of the ad.
