By Jeanmarie Evelly and Justin Bodden

A series of new and graphic warning labels will start appearing on cigarette packages this fall, part of a federal effort to encourage more Americans to quit smoking and deter new smokers from taking up the habit.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration unveiled the new labels last month, which include images of nicotine-damaged lungs, rotting teeth, a corpse and a man breathing from an oxygen tank—each picture paired with warnings like, “cancer can kill you.”

“These images are pretty scary,” said longtime Bronx smoker Ronald Wagenknecht, who said he’s trying to quit for the second time, but isn’t sure the new labels will make an impact.

“After 25 years, I just can’t put one down,” he said. “I need more than just images on the box.”  

Starting this September, every box, carton of cigarettes and cigarette ad will be required to feature one of the nine approved warnings, along with the phone number for the smoking cessation hotline 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

The label changes — the first in 25 years — are required by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which President Obama signed into law in 2009.

“These labels are frank, honest and powerful depictions of the health risks of smoking and they will help encourage smokers to quit, and prevent children from smoking,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in a press release. “President Obama wants to make tobacco-related death and disease part of the nation’s past, and not our future.”

 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tobacco use is the leading cause of premature and preventable death in the United States, and kills 443,000 people each year.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.