Dear Editor:
Adding new warnings to cigarette packages and advertisements can save more lives. Many suffer directly and indirectly from cigarette smoke. According to the American Heart Association, an estimated 35,000 heart disease deaths annually are associated with environmental tobacco smoke. As a twenty-five year old woman, I have personally been affected with the ramifications of cigarettes. My birth mother was a smoker and one of the results of her smoking landed me with congenital heart disease and a pacemaker. I have to undergo surgeries and live with heart defects for the rest of my life. I believe that the new proposed rule by the FDA, to modify the Required Warnings for Cigarette Packages and Advertisements, to nine new warnings can strongly alert smokers and non-smokers of the horrific harmful effects cigarettes can cause.
This new rule will not only educate people on the effects of cigarettes with the new warnings, but will also depict graphics on all cigarette packages and advertisements. Knowledge is power and by increasing the awareness of the harmful effects of cigarettes, we become more powerful in saving the lives of both cigarette smokers and those who suffer indirectly from smokers.
Sincerely,
Lauren S. McKenna
Jersey City