WASHINGTON -- Cigarette packages carrying images such as diseased lungs and oxygen masks may not discourage smoking, according to Bloomberg, citing a report released by U.S. regulators. Graphic labels tested in surveys for the federal Food & Drug Administration (FDA) did not have a strong effect on whether smokers planned to quit or nonsmokers intended to start, the study found.
One exception was an image of a male corpse with a stapled chest that appeared to boost adult smokers' intentions to quit.
The study, conducted in October, consisted of an initial survey [image-nocss] and a followup taking 10 minutes each, administered about a week apart. The adult, young adult and youth study samples each included more than 4,500 people.
Cigarette makers led by Altria Group Inc. and Reynolds American Inc. must put images on packages starting in 2012 under a law passed last year giving the FDA unprecedented regulatory power. The FDA proposed last month that each cigarette package carry one of nine images the agency will select from among 36 test graphics (click here to view the graphics), including photos of dead bodies, rotting teeth and cancerous lungs. (Click here to view the FDA's warning label page for more information.)
"The graphic cigarette warning labels did not elicit strong responses in terms of intentions related to cessation or initiation," according to the report. "One possibility is that the observation period is too short to see any change in these types of outcomes."
Click hereto view the full report, "Experimental Study of Graphic Cigarette Warning Labels," issued December 2010 (click on PDF file at bottom of page). The new labeling would cover 50% of the front and back of cigarette packages and 20% of print ads. The FDA is reviewing the "substantial amount of data" in the report, Jeffrey Ventura, an agency spokesperson, told Bloomberg.
"FDA will not only consider the results of this experimental study to select a set of nine final graphic health warnings, but also the public comments it receives on the proposed rule published on November 12, 2010, and relevant scientific literature," Ventura added.
The agency plans to accept comments until January 11, 2011.
U.S. cigarette packs and ads now carry one of four warnings under a federal law enacted in 1984. The messages include "Cigarette Smoke Contains Carbon Monoxide" and "Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, and May Complicate Pregnancy." The warning labels do not include images.
(Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage of the FDA's cigarette warning labels. Andclick here for a CSP editorial and readers' responses.)
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