President Barack Obama has come out with a new message for smoking. The White House released a new video, in which Obama congratulates the American Cancer Society on their 36th annual Great American Smokeout. This is not the only thing he says. The President continues on about the evils of the big tobacco industry.
The tobacco companies feel like they are taking a big hit with the new labels that are required to be placed on the product. President Obama insists that “Today, some big tobacco companies are trying to block these labels”. He thinks this is because “they don’t want to be honest about the consequences of using their products.”
Many people are outraged about the labels on cigarettes. The companies are filing a lawsuit because they think it violates their first amendment right in terms of speech. The graphic images include a dead smoker’s corpse, horrid teeth, diseased lungs and much more disturbing pictures. These labels take up about half the space on the box.
The President, being a former chain-smoker, thinks that these labels will greatly reduce the use of tobacco. But the fact of whether this is legal is up for debate. Now it is in the hands of the Justice Department to decide the outcome.