Tobacco.org

• Belgium can now picture the worst from smoking 

Buying a pack of cigarettes in Belgium these days can be enough to scare you to death. Since November, smokers in this rain-swept country of 10 million people have been confronted with graphic warnings on their cigarette packs, and they are not for the fainthearted. One shows a man with a swollen red tumor protruding from his neck. "Smoking can lead to a slow and painful death," reads a note underneath. Other pictures the Belgian government plans to rotate over the next three years show toothless gums, blackened lungs and open heart surgery. So far, Belgium is the only European country to force manufacturers to slap gross pictures onto cigarette packs. But Britain, Latvia, Portugal and Romania intend to follow Brussels' example, according to the European Commission, the European Union's executive body. EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou, who hopes to see the spread of such graphic warnings, argues they not only provide relevant health information "but also are likely to reduce tobacco use in the population."

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