Canada will require in the coming months that warnings about the risks of tobacco consumption be printed directly on individual cigarettes. In doing so, Canada becomes the first country in the world to adopt this approach, announced Wednesday, on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day, the federal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Carolyn Bennett.
The initiative is welcomed as a breath of fresh air by many organizations that work with clients struggling with heart or lung disease.
This measure is part of the Appearance, Packaging and Labeling of Tobacco Products Regulations, which aims to reduce the rate of smoking among Canadians to below 5% by 2035.
The regulations will come into force on 1er next August and its provisions will be implemented gradually. Individual labeling of tobacco products must be completed by the end of April 2024, starting with king size cigarettes. Labeling of other products, such as regular size cigarettes, little cigars, cuff papers and tubes will follow by the end of April the following year.
“Smoking continues to kill 48,000 people in Canada each year. We are responding by being the first country in the world to label individual cigarettes with health warnings. With this bold move, health warnings will be virtually unavoidable and will serve as a stark reminder of the health consequences of smoking, paired with updated images displayed on the packaging. We will continue to do whatever it takes to help more people in Canada, especially young people, live healthier, tobacco-free lives,” Minister Bennett said in a statement.
“Tobacco use remains one of the most important public health problems in Canada and is the leading preventable cause of illness and early death in the country,” said his colleague Jean-Yves Duclos, Canadian Minister of Health.
Pictures and messages relating to the risks of smoking appeared on cigarette packaging in 2000. Most of these messages have not changed since their initial display; the new regulations provide for periodic rotation of warnings.
Heartwarming welcome
The initiative has been hailed by the Canadian Cancer Society, whose senior analyst, Rob Cunningham, stresses its “internationally unique” character.
“This new regulation deserves unwavering support,” he argued. The requirement to put a health warning directly on every cigarette is a step that sets a global precedent and will affect people every time they take a puff. »
The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada says it welcomes the new tobacco regulations. “These crucial measures will protect young people and support current smokers in their efforts to quit,” said Doug Roth, CEO, in a press release.
He said he “looks forward to continuing to work with the federal government on other key measures to reduce nicotine addiction, including a complete ban on flavorings in vaping products, including mint and menthol, to protect young people”.
The president and CEO of the Canadian Lung Association believes that the new regulatory measures “will ensure that the dangers of these products to lung health do not go unnoticed.” “By being the first country to require warnings to be placed directly on cigarettes, Canada will reduce the appeal of these products, especially to young people,” continued Terry Dean.
A step in the right direction
For its part, the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control says it enthusiastically welcomes the measures put forward by Health Canada.
The Coalition’s co-director and spokesperson, Flory Doucas, points out that after more than 12 years without having been updated, “the warnings that have been on cigarette packets since 2011 have lost their effectiveness”.
“An additional warning on every cigarette will reinforce messages about the harmful health effects of smoking. This new type of warning is particularly relevant for young people, because we know that their first puffs as part of the initiation to smoking are normally done by being offered their first cigarettes without necessarily seeing the package,” said Ms. Doucas in a press release.
However, the Coalition would like to see the regulations surrounding tobacco consumption tightened to reduce it, particularly among young people. This involves, among other things, more prevention of vaping among young people, “a phenomenon that does not seem to be a priority for Health Canada given the draft regulations on flavors that have been on the shelves for two years,” lamented the door- word.
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This dispatch was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta Exchange and The Canadian Press for the news.