In a world first in the fight against smoking, each cigarette sold in Canada will have to come with an individual health warning under new rules that came into effect Tuesday.
According to the new regulations, which were first announced in May, each cigarette will have to come with an individual health warning that “cigarettes cause impotence”, “cigarettes cause cancer”, “smoking harms children”, and “poison in every puff”.
King-size cigarettes with the new individual labels are expected to be available in stores within a year, followed by regular size cigarettes in early 2025, reported Agence France Press (AFP).
“With this step, the warning labels will be unavoidable and, together with updated graphic images displayed on the package, will provide a real and startling reminder of the health consequences of smoking,” Canada’s former addictions minister, Carolyn Bennett, has previously said.
The Canadian government noted that some young people, who are particularly susceptible to the risk of tobacco dependence, start smoking after being given a single cigarette rather than a pack labeled with health warnings.
In 2000, Canada became the first country to order graphic warnings on packs of cigarettes -- including grisly pictorials of diseased hearts and lungs -- to raise awareness of the health hazards associated with tobacco use.
Smoking has been trending down since then. Ottawa aims to further reduce the number of smokers in the country to five percent of the population, or about 2 million people, by 2035 -- from about 13 percent currently.
According to government data, almost half of the country’s health care costs are linked to substance use.
