Canadian Government Mandates Health Warnings on Each Cigarette

Canada is set to become the first country in the world to print health warnings directly on individual cigarettes.

This groundbreaking policy was announced by Carolyn Bennett, the Minister for Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, as part of their initiative to help adults quit smoking while protecting youth and non-tobacco users from nicotine addiction.

The warnings will be labelled on individual cigarettes, little cigars, tubes, and other tobacco products on the tipping paper. This means that smokers will not be able to ignore or avoid the warnings altogether, making this a novel approach to reducing tobacco use in Canada.

The policy builds upon a mandate which requires graphic photo warnings on tobacco product packaging that was introduced two decades ago. One of the phrases being considered for these new regulations is "Poison in every puff."




The new regulations are slated to take effect from August 1st and will be implemented over a phased approach with retailers carrying tobacco product packages featuring the updated messages by April 2024.

King-size cigarettes will be the first ones featuring individual health warnings, followed by regular-sized cigarettes and little cigars with tipping papers as well as tubes by April 2025.

In addition to these labels on individual cigarettes, Canada has set a goal of reducing overall tobacco use among citizens to less than five percent by 2035 as part of their Tobacco Strategy.

Such measures are expected to positively impact public health by promoting smoking cessation attempts among adult smokers while discouraging uptake among youth and non-tobacco users alike.

Source: City News