美國:香菸盒將採用新警示標識

Corpses, cancer patients and diseased lungs are among the images the federal government plans for larger, graphic warning labels that would take up half of each pack of cigarettes sold in the United States.

Whether smokers addicted to nicotine will see them as a reason to quit remains a question.

The images are part of a new campaign announced by the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday to reduce tobacco use, which is responsible for about 443,000 deaths per year.

"Some very explicit, almost gruesome pictures may be necessary," FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said. "This is a very, very serious public health issue, with very, very serious medical consequences," such as cancer, heart disease, strokes and lung diseases.

The share of Americans who smoke has fallen dramatically since 1970, from nearly 40 percent to about 20 percent, but the rate has stalled since about 2004. About 46 million adults in the US smoke cigarettes.

In the same period, the average cost per pack has gone from 38 cents to $5.33. Much of those increases are from state and federal taxes.

It's unclear why declines in smoking have stalled. Some experts have cited tobacco company discounts or lack of funding for programs to discourage smoking or to help smokers quit.

The new prevention plan is part of a law passed in June 2009 that gave the FDA authority to regulate tobacco, including setting guidelines for marketing and labeling, banning certain products and limiting nicotine. The law doesn't let the FDA ban nicotine or tobacco.

The FDA is proposing 36 labels for public comment. They include phrases like "Smoking can kill you" and "Cigarettes cause cancer" and feature graphic images to convey the dangers of tobacco.

Some of the labels include a man with a tracheotomy smoking a cigarette, a cartoon of a mother blowing smoke in her baby's face, rotting and diseased teeth and gums, as well as cigarettes being flushed down the toilet to signify quitting.

The new warning labels are to take up the top half of a pack - both front and back - of cigarettes and contain "color graphics depicting the negative health consequences". Warning labels also must constitute 20 percent of advertisements.

美國聯邦政府計劃在美國境內銷售的香菸包裝盒上使用更大幅的圖片警示標識，警示圖片將佔去香菸盒面積的一半。其中的一些圖片含有屍體、癌症病人及發生病變的肺臟的圖像。

至於那些對尼古丁上癮的吸菸者是否會因爲這些警示圖片而戒菸還是個未知數。

美國食品和藥品監督管理局和美國衛生及公共服務部週三宣佈了一項減少菸草使用的新運動，這些警示圖片是該運動的一部分。每年有44.3萬人的死亡與菸草有關。

藥管局局長瑪格麗特•漢伯格說：“可能有必要使用一些直觀的、甚至是觸目驚心的圖片。這是一個非常非常嚴重的公共健康問題，會引發很嚴重的疾病”，比如癌症、心臟病、中風和肺病。

自1970年以來，美國吸菸人口的比重大幅下降，從近40%下降到了20%左右。但是，這一比重大約從2004年起就不再下降。在美國，大約有4600萬成人是菸民。

在此期間，每盒香菸的平均價格從38美分上升爲5.33美元。上漲的主要原因是各州和聯邦政府提高了稅收。

吸菸人口比重爲何停止下降，原因尚不明確。一些專家認爲，這是由於菸草公司打折出售香菸，或是因爲鼓勵或幫助吸菸者戒菸的項目資金不足所致。

2009年6月，美國通過了一部法律，授權藥管局管制菸草，這項新的預防計劃就是該法律的一部分。菸草管制包括制定有關香菸營銷和標識的準則，禁止某些產品的銷售，及限制尼古丁的使用量。不過，這部法律沒有授權藥管局禁止尼古丁或菸草的使用。

美國藥管局提議使用的圖片警示標識有36種，並就此徵求公衆意見。標識上的標語有“吸菸要人命”、 “吸菸致癌”等，還包含向公衆傳達吸菸的各種危害的圖片。

這是其中的一些警示標識：戴着氣管套管的吸菸男子，向嬰兒臉上吐煙的母親的漫畫，腐爛病變的牙齒和牙齦，還有將香菸衝進馬桶表示要戒菸的圖像。

這些新的警示標識將被印在香菸盒的上半部分（正反面都如此），還須包含“描述由吸菸導致的各種健康問題的彩色圖片”。此外，警示標識必須佔據香菸廣告面積的20%。

Vocabulary:

gruesome: very unpleasant and filling you with horror, usually because it is connected with death or injury（令人厭惡的；恐怖的；可怕的）

stall: to stop something from happening until a later date; to stop making progress（暫緩；擱置；停頓）

tracheotomy: a medical operation to cut a hole in somebody's trachea so that they can breathe（氣管切開術）