WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama, pronounced tobacco-free in his latest medical checkup, has tough words for cigarette makers.
Some tobacco companies, he says in a White House web video, are fighting new cigarette warning labels because "they don't want to be honest about the consequences."
The video observed Thursday's 36th "Great American Smokeout" by the American Cancer Society. Obama says the country has made progress in reducing the number of Americans who smoke but notes 46 million are still addicted.
"The fact is, quitting smoking is hard," he says. "Believe me, I know."
In 2009, Obama signed legislation to help keep young people from lighting up. In June, the Food and Drug Administration approved powerfully graphic new warning labels that companies would have to place on the top half of cigarette packs.
