Each Cigarette in Canada to Come with Warning Label

In this Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016 photo, an Indian man takes a
cigarette from a pack in New Delhi, India. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)Altaf
Qadri/Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016 photo, an Indian man takes a cigarette from a pack in New Delhi, India. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)Altaf Qadri/Associated Press
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Each Cigarette in Canada to Come with Warning Label

In this Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016 photo, an Indian man takes a
cigarette from a pack in New Delhi, India. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)Altaf
Qadri/Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016 photo, an Indian man takes a cigarette from a pack in New Delhi, India. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)Altaf Qadri/Associated Press

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.



Tourists Return to Post-Olympic Paris for Holiday Magic

Around 270,000 people visited Notre Dame in the first eight days since its reopened. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
Around 270,000 people visited Notre Dame in the first eight days since its reopened. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
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Tourists Return to Post-Olympic Paris for Holiday Magic

Around 270,000 people visited Notre Dame in the first eight days since its reopened. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
Around 270,000 people visited Notre Dame in the first eight days since its reopened. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP

Holidaymakers are returning to Paris for winter holiday magic as the tourism industry rebounds, inspired by the successful Olympic Games and the re-opening of Notre Dame cathedral.
"This year there is much more tourism than last time I came here. Much much more. Many more people," said Noemi Rizzato, a tourist from Milan who braved the cold to visit the Place du Trocadero on the Right Bank of Paris, bundled up in her down jacket, AFP said.
Georges Bardot, a 78-year-old pensioner from eastern France, also pointed to large numbers of foreign tourists amid the holiday hustle and bustle in the City of Light.
"We heard every language except French spoken on the metro," Bardot laughed.
This winter, Parisian hotels are experiencing a surge in demand.
The booking rate for two-week Christmas vacations neared 70 percent in mid-December, nine percentage points higher than a year ago, according to data from MKG Consulting.
Top-of-the-range establishments are doing particularly well, with an increase of nearly 14 points over one year.
According to the UMIH hotel and restaurant union, well-heeled international customers are making a comeback.
Frank Delvau, UMIH president for the Paris region, pointed to an "Olympic effect".
The Games "have made tourists want to come back, or to visit", he said.
Tourism professionals said the world's largest sporting event led to a lackluster summer in Paris.
Wealthy Parisians fled the capital for the summer and many foreign holidaymakers chose to stay away due to transport gridlock and a security crackdown. Hotels and airlines such as Air France saw a drop in bookings, while taxi drivers and restaurant owners said their businesses had been badly affected.
With five billion viewers, the Paris Games were the most followed Games in television and social media history, according to the International Olympic Committee.
- 'Time to go to Paris' -
"We needed this catch-up effect because the situation was very difficult in the third quarter," Delvau said.
"There was a very sharp fall in visitor numbers. The restaurant business was down 40 percent, 50 percent at times," he added.
From November 1 to December 8, international air arrivals to Paris rose by 15.4 percent compared to 2023, to reach 1.3 million, according to the Paris Tourist Office.
On the Ile de la Cite, the island site of Notre Dame cathedral, shopkeepers eagerly await the return of visitors after five years of reconstruction work, as well as the coronavirus lockdowns that saw a drop in tourist numbers.
"The Notre Dame opening this year was the biggest item on our list," said Teju Arora, an engineer from the United States.
"And we did visit Notre Dame, it was amazing. It's a beautiful site and it was great to see, to pray, to visit," said Arora, wearing a red beret.
Around 270,000 people have visited the medieval masterpiece in the first eight days since Notre Dame reopened in early December, rector Olivier Ribadeau Dumas told French daily Le Parisien. "Around 30,000 people a day enter the cathedral."
Tourists "tell themselves it's time to go to Paris", Delvau said.
"They have both Notre Dame and the department stores' windows, which always attract a lot of people."