INDIANAPOLIS — Starting July 1, tobacco companies will be required to post eye-catching signs that highlight the possible consequences of smoking.
Over 200,000 retail stores across the U.S. must post the signs under a federal court order issued late last year.
The signs were first ordered in 2006 by a federal court after finding that the tobacco companies had defrauded consumers by lying for decades about the health risks of smoking.
Under the court order, the signs must be put up between July 1 and Sept. 30, and stay up in stores for 21 months.
The goal of the signs is to address the health harms of smoking and secondhand smoke, the addictiveness of nicotine and the industry's manipulation of cigarettes to make them more addictive.
They must be posted in English and in Spanish around areas with significant Spanish-speaking populations.
The signs will be posted next to cigarette displays, providing information to buyers when they are making decisions whether to purchase cigarettes.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tobacco use is still the number one cause of preventable death in the U.S., killing over 480,000 people each year and causing about 30% of all deaths from cancer.
