DENVER -- Corpses, cancer patients and diseased lungs are among the images the federal government plans for larger, graphic warning labels that would take up half of each pack of cigarettes sold in the United States.

The images are part of a new campaign announced by the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday to reduce tobacco use, which is responsible for about 443,000 deaths per year.

Some of the labels include a man with a tracheotomy smoking a cigarette, a cartoon of a mother blowing smoke in her baby's face, rotting and diseased teeth and gums, as well as cigarettes being flushed down the toilet to signify quitting.

The new warning labels are to take up the top half of a pack -- both front and back -- of cigarettes.

"Some very explicit, almost gruesome pictures may be necessary," FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said in an interview with The Associated Press. "This is a very, very serious public health issue, with very, very serious medical consequences," such as cancer, heart disease, strokes and lung diseases.

The FDA is proposing 36 labels for public comment. They include phrases like "Smoking can kill you" and "Cigarettes cause cancer" and feature graphic images to convey the dangers of tobacco.

“This is definitely going to put the fear of God in folks, really make them think twice about what they're doing as they begin to light up,” Said R.J. Ours, of the American Cancer Society of Denver.

Metro State marketing professor Darrin Duber-Smith said in-your-face campaigns like the Colorado Meth Project’s graphic billboards and television ads oftentimes work.

“Graphic images definitely get people to think,” said Duber-Smtih. “I don't hear people making jokes about these meth ads.”

Duber-Smith said the cigarette packages would probably be most effective on new smokers. For hardcore smokers, he said the images could begin to work over time.

Smoker Robert Grimaldi said he “absolutely” thinks the ads will stop smokers in their tracks.

“There are still naive people that don't understand what they're doing to themselves,” he said.

But other smokers called the ads “sensationalistic” and questioned their effectiveness.

“I think it’s sort of a guilt campaign,” said Benjamin Mund who believes the images will do little to dissuade smokers. “It just seems really manipulative.”

The FDA will select the final labels in June after reviews of scientific literature, public comments and results from an 18,000-person study. Cigarette makers will then have a year and three months to start using the new labels.

To share your opinion, visit the FDA’s Federal Regulations web site and search for docket number FDA-2010-N-0568.