PORTLAND (AP) – The state launched a new television commercial Thursday that uses an image of a smoker’s damaged lungs to drive home the health risks of smoking in an attempt to motivate tobacco users to quit the habit.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services said the 30-second ad is aimed at young adults and seriously addicted smokers.

The ad shows a pair of smoker’s lungs at the morgue at Maine Medical Center with a doctor’s voice recounting the experiences of a patient and family as they went through a lung cancer death.

The department launched another ad in June that uses clips of home movies to emphasize that nobody knows when a tobacco-related disease may strike.

“We recognize that these messages are powerful and may even be disturbing to some,” said Dr. Dora Anne Mills, Maine’s public health director. “But we also balance that with an obligation to get the attention of the difficult-to-reach adult smokers because we want to assure that everyone has an opportunity to live longer and healthier lives.”

Maine adult smoking rates have dropped from 27 percent in 1990 to 21 percent in 2004, according to health officials. But officials say it is of concern that one third of Maine residents between 18 and 24 still smoke.