New Cigarette Warning Labels Released, Watch The White House Announcement Live Today!

by Gustavo Torrez

Today the FDA released the new cigarette warning labels that will be placed on all cigarettes packs. Beginning in September 2012, these new warnings will be placed on advertisements and placed over the top 50% of both the front and back of every cigarette pack. The 9 different warning graphics will rotate randomly over the course of a year to ensure every unique brand is “branded” with the new warning labels.

These large warning labels are just one of the landmark decisions coming out of the historic Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which became law in June 2009.

The FDA has created an interactive tool, which allows you to see the “before” and “after” images of a retail establishment with the new warning labels.  Click here to take a look.

Starting in an hour at 12:30 pm est there will be a live announcement from the White House, followed by a live briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney at 1:30pm EST. At 2:30pm EST there will be a Twitter Town hall,  along with a final public health stakeholders call at 3:30 pm EST. Below you will find information for all of todays activities:

Cigarette Health Warning Announcement
Watch today’s announcement live from the White House.
When:  Tuesday, June 21, at 12:30 PM EST
Webcast Link:  http://wh.gov/live

Live Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney

with Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg – The White House

When:  Tuesday, June 21, at 1:30 PM EST
Webcast Link:  http://wh.gov/live

Twitter Town Hall
Please join Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS, and Dr. Lawrence Deyton, Director, Center for Tobacco Products at FDA, in a Twitter Q&A session.
When:  Tuesday, June 21, at 2:30 PM EST
Twitter Account:  @FDATobacco
How: To participate and ask questions, simply follow along at the hashtag #cigwarnings and make sure to tag your Twitter questions with #cigwarnings.

Public Health Stakeholder Teleconference

Finally, Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS, and Dr. Lawrence Deyton, Director, Center for Tobacco Products at FDA, will host a public health stakeholder teleconference to discuss the final rule on cigarette health warnings at 3:30-4:00PM EST

Tuesday, June, 21 from 3:30 – 4:00 EST
Conference number: 888-603-8938 (Domestic), Passcode FDA HHS
Conference number:  415-228-4966  (International), Passcode: FDA HHS

Click here for more information on the New Warning Labels.

Click the pack below to view the high resolution images…