E.U. moves to strengthen its anti-smoking rules, adds graphic warnings on cartons

(Image credit: Flickr CC By: Fried Dough)

last updated 8 January 2015

The European Union would really like for its citizens to curb their notorious smoking habit. The European Parliament voted today to require cigarette manufacturers to increase the warnings displayed on packages and to eventually eliminate flavored tobacco. Starting in 2016, graphic anti-smoking images and warnings must encompass 65 percent of the front and back of cigarette boxes. Current rules only require small text alerts, and not explicit pictures, on tobacco packages.

By 2020, the E.U. will phase out the sales of roll-your-own tobacco products and flavors (such as menthol and vanilla). Parliament members hope the new rules will deter young people from picking up smoking and decrease the 700,000 people who die each year from tobacco-related causes.

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Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.