To scare people out of smoking, FDA proposes putting graphic images on cigarette packaging

The Food and Drug Administration hopes that by putting images of diseased lungs, bloody urine, and amputated limbs on cigarette packs, people will think twice before smoking.

Acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless told reporters on Thursday that the agency is proposing a new rule which would require that all cigarette packages and tobacco advertisements feature graphic images warning of the health dangers associated with smoking. The Surgeon General's warning that is now on packaging has become "virtually invisible" to smokers, he said, and while many people think "the harms of smoking are pretty well understood by the public, this is not true."

Sharpless said tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, and the warnings wouldn't just focus on well-known health issues related to smoking, like lung cancer, but also those that fly under the radar, like diabetes and blindness. These graphic images already appear on cigarette packaging in other countries, and the American Lung Association told NPR that research shows having visual warnings on cigarette packing is "effective in preventing children from starting to smoke, and motivating current smokers to quit for good."

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