The move is based on Canada’s mandate to include graphic photo warnings on tobacco packaging, a policy that started an international trend when it was introduced two decades ago. “We need to address the concern that these messages may have lost their innovation, and to some extent we may worry that they may have lost their impact,” Mental Health and Addiction Secretary Carolyn Bennett told a news conference on Friday. “Adding health warnings to individual tobacco products will help ensure that these key messages reach people, including young people, who often have access to cigarettes one at a time in social situations, bypassing information printed on a packing”. A consultation period for the proposed change is set to begin on Saturday, and the government has predicted that the changes will take effect in the second half of 2023. While the exact messages printed on cigarettes could change, Bennett said the current proposition is: “Poison in every puff.” Bennett also revealed extensive warnings about cigarette packs that include a longer list of the health effects of smoking, including stomach cancer, colon cancer, diabetes and peripheral vascular disease. Canada has demanded photo warnings since the turn of the millennium, but the images have not been updated for a decade. Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society, said he hoped the cigarette print direct warnings would become as popular internationally as the package warnings. “This will set a global precedent,” he said, adding that no other country had implemented such regulations. He was optimistic that the warning would make a real difference. “It’s a warning you just can not ignore,” Cunningham said. “It will reach every smoker, with every puff.” The move also garnered praise from Geoffrey Fong, a professor at the University of Waterloo and lead researcher on the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project. “This is a really potential intervention that will enhance the impact of health warnings,” Fong said. Smoking rates have been steadily declining over the years. The latest Statistics Canada data released last month show that 10% of Canadians reported smoking regularly. The government seeks to halve this interest rate by 2035. StatCan noted that about 11% of Canadians aged 20 and over reported being smokers, compared with just 4% of people aged 15 to 19.
