(CNN) Tobacco was first used by the peoples of the pre Columbian Americas. Native Americans apparently cultivated the plant and smoked it in pipes for medicinal and ceremonial purposes.

Christopher Columbus brought a few tobacco leaves and seeds with him back to Europe, but most Europeans didn’t get their first taste of tobacco until the mid 16th century, when adventurers and diplomats like France’s Jean Nicot for whom nicotine is named began to popularize its use. Tobacco was introduced to France in 1556, Portugal in 1558, and Spain in 1559, and England in 1565.

The first successful commercial crop was cultivated in Virginia in 1612 by Englishman John Rolfe. Within seven years, it was the colony’s largest export. Over the next two centuries, the growth of tobacco as a cash crop fueled the demand in North America for slave labor.



At first, tobacco was produced mainly for pipe smoking, chewing, and snuff. Cigars didn’t become popular until the early 1800s. Cigarettes, which had been around in crude form since the early 1600s, didn’t become widely popular in the United States until after the Civil War, with the spread of “Bright” tobacco, a uniquely cured yellow leaf grown in Virginia and North Carolina. Cigarette sales surged again with the introduction of the “White Burley” tobacco leaf and the invention of the first practical cigarette making machine, sponsored by tobacco baron James Buchanan “Buck” Duke, in the late 1880s.



The negative health effects of tobacco were not initially known in fact, most early European physicians subscribed to the Native American belief that tobacco can be an effective medicine.

By the early 20th century, with the growth in cigarette smoking, articles addressing the health effects of smoking began to appear in scientific and medical journals. In 1930, researchers in Cologne, Germany, made a statistical correlation between cancer and smoking. Eight years later, Dr. Raymond Pearl of Johns Hopkins University reported that smokers do not live as long as non smokers. By 1944, the American Cancer Society began to warn about possible ill effects of smoking, although it admitted that “no definite evidence exists” linking smoking and lung cancer.

A statistical correlation between smoking and cancer had been demonstrated but no causal relationship had been shown. More importantly, the general public knew little of the growing body of statistics.

That changed in 1952, when Reader’s Digest published “Cancer by the Carton,” an article detailing the dangers of smoking. The effect of the article was enormous Similar reports began appearing in other periodicals, and the smoking public began to take notice. The following year, cigarette sales declined for the first time in over two decades.

The tobacco industry responded swiftly. By 1954 the major U.S. tobacco companies had formed the Tobacco Industry Research Council to counter the growing health concerns. With counsel from TIRC, tobacco companies began mass marketing filtered cigarettes and low tar formulations that promised a “healthier” smoke. The public responded, and soon sales were booming again.



The next big blow to the tobacco industry came in the early 1960s, with the formation of the Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health. Convened in response to political pressures and a growing body of scientific evidence suggesting a causal relationship between smoking and cancer, the committee released a 387 page report in 1964 entitled “Smoking and Health.” In unequivocal terms, it concluded that “cigarette smoking is causally related to lung cancer in men.” It said that the data for women, “though less extensive, point in the same direction.” The report noted that the average smoker is nine to 10 times more likely to get lung cancer than the average non smoker and cited specific carcinogens in cigarette smoke, including cadmium, DDT, and arsenic.

The tobacco industry has been on the run albeit profitably ever since. In 1965, Congress passed the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act requiring the surgeon general’s warnings on all cigarette packages. In 1971, all broadcast advertising was banned. In 1990, smoking was banned on all interstate buses and all domestic airline flights lasting six hours or less. In 1994, Mississippi filed the first of 22 state lawsuits seeking to recoup millions of dollars from tobacco companies for smokers’ Medicaid bills. And in 1995, President Clinton announced FDA plans to regulate tobacco, especially sales and advertising aimed at minors.



Tobacco has been around longer than the United States, and a causal relationship between smoking and cancer has been acknowledged by the U.S. government for over three decades. So why has it taken so long for the tobacco industry to be forced to settle lawsuits over the dangers of cigarettes?

Previous lawsuits went nowhere. Tobacco companies, with deep pockets for legal maneuvering, easily beat back early suits, including the first one, filed in 1954. Their most serious challenge before the 1990s came in 1983, when Rose Cipollone, a smoker dying from lung cancer, filed suit against Liggett Group, charging the company failed to warn her about the dangers of its products. Cipollone, who eventually died, initially won a $400,000 judgment against the company, but that was later overturned. After two arguments before the Supreme Court, Cipollone’s family, unable to afford the cost of continued litigation, dropped the suit.

Now, however, tobacco companies face a different legal environment. Over the past three decades, the law has changed considerably.

Today, state laws and legal precedents hold manufacturers more liable for the effects of their products. And the old legal defense of “contributing negligence” which prevented lawsuits by people with some measure of responsibility for their own condition is no longer viable in most jurisdictions. Instead, a defendant can be held partially liable and forced to pay a corresponding percentage of damages. Finally, the notion of “strict” liability has developed this means a defendant can be found liable whether or not they are found negligent. If a product such as tobacco causes harm, the company that produced it can be held responsible, even if it wasn’t aware of the potential danger.

Tobacco packaging warning messages – wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bbc news – call for restrictions on sale of electronic cigarettes to children
Cigarettes edit

  • Caution Cigarette Smoking May be Hazardous to Your Health (1966 1970)
  • Warning The Surgeon General Has Determined that Cigarette Smoking is Dangerous to Your Health (1970 1985)
  • SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy. (1985 )
  • SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING Quitting Smoking Now Greatly Reduces Serious Risks to Your Health. (1985 )
  • SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING Smoking By Pregnant Women May Result in Fetal Injury, Premature Birth, And Low Birth Weight. (1985 )
  • SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING Cigarette Smoke Contains Carbon Monoxide. (1985 )

Though the United States started the trend of labeling cigarette packages with health warnings, today the country has one of the smallest, least prominent warnings placed on their packages. 29 Warnings are usually in small typeface placed along one of the sides of the cigarette packs with colors and fonts that closely resemble the rest of the package, so the warnings essentially are integrated and do not stand out with the rest of the cigarette package. 29

However, this is subject to change as the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 requires color graphics with supplemental text that depicts the negative consequences of smoking to cover 50 percent of the front and rear of each pack. The nine new graphic warning labels were announced by the FDA in June 2011 and were required to appear on packaging by September 2012, though this was delayed by legal challenges. 30

In August 2011, five tobacco companies filed a lawsuit against the FDA in an effort to reverse the new warning mandate. Tobacco companies claimed that being required to promote government anti smoking campaigns by placing the new warnings on packaging violates the companies’ free speech rights. 31 Additionally, R.J. Reynolds, Lorillard, Commonwealth Brands Inc., Liggett Group LLC and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company Inc. claimed that the graphic labels are an unconstitutional way of forcing tobacco companies to engage in anti smoking advocacy on the government’s behalf. 32 A First Amendment lawyer, Floyd Abrams, represented the tobacco companies in the case, contending that requiring graphic warning labels on a lawful product cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny. 33 The Association of National Advertisers and the American Advertising Federation also filed a brief in the suit, arguing that the labels infringe on commercial free speech and could lead to further government intrusion if left unchallenged. 34

On 29 February 2012, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that the labels violate the right to free speech in the First Amendment. 35 However, the following month the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit upheld the majority of the Tobacco Control Act of 2009, including the part requiring graphic warning labels. In April 2013 the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal to this ruling, allowing the new labels to stand. As the original ruling against the FDA images was not actually reversed, the FDA will again need to go through the process of developing the new warning labels, and the timetable and final product remain unknown. 36 37 38 39

Cigars edit

  • SURGEON GENERAL WARNING Cigar Smoking Can Cause Cancers Of The Mouth And Throat, Even If You Do Not Inhale.
  • SURGEON GENERAL WARNING Cigars Are Not A Safe Alternative To Cigarettes.
  • SURGEON GENERAL WARNING Tobacco Smoke Increases The Risk Of Lung Cancer And Heart Disease, Even In Nonsmokers.
  • SURGEON GENERAL WARNING Cigar Smoking Can Cause Lung Cancer And Heart Disease.
  • SURGEON GENERAL WARNING Tobacco Use Increases The Risk Of Infertility, Stillbirth, And Low Birth Weight.
  • SURGEON GENERAL WARNING This Product Contains/Produces Chemicals Known To The State Of California To Cause Cancer, And Birth Defects Or Other Reproductive Harm.

Stronger warning labels started to appear in May 2010

Smokeless tobacco edit

Effective June 2010, the following labels began to appear on smokeless tobacco products and their advertisements.

  • WARNING This product can cause mouth cancer.
  • WARNING This product can cause gum disease and tooth loss.
  • WARNING This product is not a safe alternative to cigarettes.
  • WARNING Smokeless tobacco is addictive.

The new warnings are required to comprise 30 percent of two principal display panels on the packaging on advertisements, the health warnings must constitute 20 percent of the total area. 40

Venezuela edit

For many years in Venezuela, the only warning in cigarette packs was printed in a very small typeface along one of the sides

“Se ha determinado que el fumar cigarrillos es nocivo para la salud, Ley de impuesto sobre cigarrillos” (It has been determined that cigarette smoking is harmful to your health, Cigarette Tax Law) Since 14 September 1978

On 24 March 2005, another warning was introduced in every cigarette pack “Este producto contiene alquitr n, nicotina y mon xido de carbono, los cuales son cancer genos y t xicos. No existen niveles seguros para el consumo de estas sustancias” (This product contains tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide, which are carcinogenic and toxic. There are no safe levels for consumption of these substances”.

1978’s warning, was not removed, now every cigarette pack contains both warnings (one on each lateral).

In addition, since 24 March 2005, one of the following warnings is randomly printed very prominently, along with a graphical image, occupying the 100% of the back of the pack (40% for the text warning and 60% for the image)

  • Este producto es da ino para la salud y produce adicci n (This product is hazardous to your health and is addictive) View image dead link
  • Fumar causa mal aliento, p rdida de muelas y c ncer de boca (Smoking causes bad breath, tooth decay and mouth cancer) view image dead link
  • Fumar causa c ncer de pulm n, tos, enfisema pulmonar y bronquitis cr nica (Smoking causes lung cancer, coughing, pulmonar emphysema and chronic bronchitis), the picture is a comparison between a smoker s lung (left) and a healthy lung (right) view image dead link
  • Fumar causa infarto al coraz n, Q.E.P.D. al portador, muerto por fumador (Smoking causes cardiac infarction, R.I.P. bearer, Killed by smoking) view image dead link
  • Fumar durante el embarazo da a la salud de tu beb (Smoking while pregnant harms your baby) view image dead link
  • Los ni os y ni as comienzan a fumar al ver adultos fumando (Children start smoking when they see adults smoke) view image dead link
  • Fumar cigarrillos causa c ncer de laringe (Smoking cigarettes causes larynx cancer) view image dead link
  • Fumar causa impotencia en los hombres (Smoking causes impotence in men) view image dead link
  • El humo del cigarrillo afecta tambi n a quien no fuma (Cigarette smoke also harms those who don’t smoke) view image dead link
  • Da hoy el primer paso, dejar de fumar es posible (take today your first step, quitting is possible) view image dead link

Also, in Venezuela, tobacco advertising is strictly forbidden, so much so that the words tobacco, cigarette, cigar, etc. are not permitted in media such as radio and television and no one can smoke on television.

In the campaign called “Venezuela 100% libre de humo” (Venezuela, 100% Smoke free), curiously, these warnings only appear on cigarette packs and not on other tobacco products (which only conserve the 1978’s warning).

References edit