Feds Want Corpses, Rotting Teeth on Cigarette Packages

(Nov. 10) -- From AOL HEALTH -- Images of corpses, rotting teeth and diseased lungs will take up half the space on a pack of cigarettes, under federal proposals unveiled today.

The graphic new labels are designed to scare smokers into quitting by showing what can happen to them. The warnings are required under a law passed last year that gave the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco products.

The proposed warnings can be seen on the FDA website. Among the most brutal: a corpse with a toe tag; stained, rotten teeth in a mouth with a gaping sore; babies surrounded by cigarette smoke; and a set of diseased, blackened lungs shown next to a pair of healthy, pink ones.

"Today marks an important milestone in protecting our children and the health of the American public," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

The FDA will seek public input on the proposed labels. Cigarettes cannot be sold in the U.S. after Oct. 22, 2012, without the labels, The New York Times reported.
"This is the most important change in cigarette health warnings in the history of the United States," said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, according to the Times.

The new warnings cover 50 percent of the front and back of each pack, and 20 percent of the top of each cigarette advertisement, The Washington Post said.

Smoking rates have dropped significantly in the United States, but about 20 percent of adults and high school students smoke, and tobacco is the leading cause of premature and preventable death, the Post reported.