FDA Adding Disturbing Pictures to Cigarette Packages: Violation of the First Amendment?

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Nine years ago, the Food and Drug Administration proposed for warnings to be added to the side of cigarette packages. Nine years ago, it was passed, and now they are back at trying to put labels even bigger labels on cigarettes. But is this a violation of the First Amendment as it is limiting what the cigarette companies are allowed to advertise on their packets. 

            
The FDA proposed 13 new warnings that are pictured above, each has a different picture that goes along with a different warning. The FDA wants manufactures to use these warnings to cover the top half of the cigarette packages.  Mitchell Zeller who runs the FDA’s tobacco division stated, “When you look at the current warnings on the side of the cigarette packs, they are virtually invisible. The diseases embedded in these images will improve public understanding of the negative consequences of smoking.” (The New York Times, 2019) The FDA first proposed for images to be added to packages in 2010 and in 2012 a group sued the FDA for violating the First Amendment, so how does the FDA think doing the same thing a couple of years later is going to work out? After that lawsuit the court said that the warning had to be purely informational and not meant to scare away smokers. The FDA was set back from this as they had planned to show very graphics images, like other parts of the world use. 
 
Most of Europe uses these pictures on the labels of cigarettes to defer people from buying them. Of course, they don’t have the First Amendment to help the cigarette companies fight back, but many of the cigarette companies that are there are here too. And even with the warnings on these labels tons of people still smoke in Europe. People in Europe even smoke outside of restaurants, they are much freer about smoking, even with these disgusting labels. 

The cigarette companies could not be at huge loss if they were forced to put these labels on their cigarettes, but they would be forced which is a violation of the First Amendment. Making companies but gross images on their packages would limit how they could advertise which could put them at a huge loss of business. Cigarette companies should fight back at the FDA, Americans know what cigarettes can do to them there is no reason to try and stop cigarette companies from getting business. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/15/health/cigarette-warnings.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FFirst%20Amendment%20(US%20Constitution)&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection

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