LONDON - Cigarette packs will be required next year to display such graphic images as diseased organs in a bid to scare smokers into snuffing out their butts, the government announced Wednesday.
Britain will be the first member of the European Union to require such warnings, Health Secretary Alan Johnson said.
"We have already made a lot of progress with stark written warnings on cigarette packs," Johnson said.
The images include an unhealthy lung, a chest cut open for heart surgery and a large tumor on a man's neck. In all, Britain chose 15 images from a selection developed by the European Commission.
Smoking has been banned in public places in Britain, and the legal age for buying tobacco will be raised from 16 to 18 next year.
The new warnings will be required on cigarette packs in the second half of 2008, the department said.
