New Graphic Cigarette Labels

This past Wednesday (Nov. 10, 2010) the F.D.A. released a series of 36 proposed images to appear on U.S. cigarette packages beginning on Oct. 22, 2012. According to the Washington Post by June of 2011, 9 of the images will be selected as the "winning images." About 20% of adults in the United States are smokers. Part of the goal of these new graphic warning labels is to drop that rate to 12% by the year 2020.

Even though the pictures on cigarette labels might turn some people off, particularly among some adults, I think that such a move here in the United States might backfire, especially among teenagers. There's going to be a whole new market out there where people are going to be trading these graphic cigarette packages like trading cards: 1 out 9, collect them all.

Personally, I'm not sure why the government keeps doing things like this. They pretend they want to get rid of "smoking," but in reality they really, really want to keep it around because tobacco is a huge cash crop for the federal treasury.

Anyway, for your viewing enjoyment, I've collected all 36 of the illustrations. Some of them don't have the written statements on them, but those are kind of superfluous when you've got pictures of dead people on morgue slabs.