It was only last year recently the US Food and Drug Administration was finally given power over Tobacco advertising. They currently have a gallery of 32 potential contenders for the 9 new graphics to go on all packets of cigarettes sold in the states. There are some pretty graphic images which will bring America up to the level found most other western countries.
To see all the possibilities go to www.fda.gov/cigarettewarnings. Dirk Hanson over at Addiction Inbox speculates on whether this goes far enough and what Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds and their cronies will do about it. It seems unlikely that the Marlboro Man will ride off into the sunset just yet but he may be booking a holiday or two. Global cigarette sales actually increased by 2% last year as Big Tobacco started to target developing nations more intensely.
One query I had for the lazy web is about medical marijuana. Surely that’s an obvious sideways move for the Tobacco companies. Have they been lobbying for it?
Can anyone shop this for me?
Related articles
- “FDA to Require New, Graphic Cigarette Health Warning Labels” and related posts (prwatch.org)
- Comic Art, Scary Medical Photos Would Give Cigarette Labels an Edge (wired.com)
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