Cigarette boxes sold in the U.S. will soon come with a court-ordered “corrective statement” label attached to them.
The product packaging of all cigarette brands will clearly state the harmful effects of smoking starting on Wednesday, CNN reported. The order is a result of a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department in 1999 against big tobacco, claiming civil fraud and racketeering violations.
A judge ruled in 2006 that tobacco companies were, in fact, committing these crimes. As a result, larger cigarette companies like Philip Morris USA, Lorillard, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Altria Group began paying for “corrective statement” ads and commercials that aired last year. Those ads will now appear on cigarette boxes, too.
“Corrective statements are essentially geared towards preventing and restraining future harm,” senior counsel for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Mary Rouvelas, told CNN. “Once they start shipping, they will appear in the retailers between two days and two weeks after, depending on how much volume that retailer goes through.”
The labels will share cigarette and nicotine facts with consumers about addictiveness, health risks like cancer and lung disease and quitting difficulty.
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