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World's first: Written warning on every cigarette in Canada

Staff Correspondent
14 Jun 2022 15:26:18 | Update: 14 Jun 2022 16:53:21
World's first: Written warning on every cigarette in Canada
— Representational Photo

Canada's Liberal government has proposed updating the country's tobacco products regulations to require written health warnings printed on individual cigarette tubes, Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett said on Friday.

A 75-day public consultation period beginning on June 11 to seek feedback from people in Canada that will inform the development of new proposed tobacco labelling regulations, a news release said on its official website.

"Adding health warnings on individual tobacco products will help ensure that these essential messages reach people, including the youth, who often access cigarettes one at a time in social situations sidestepping the information printed on a package," Bennett said.

The proposed regulations would also build on existing requirements by updating current health-related messages, extending messaging requirements to all tobacco product packages and implementing periodic rotation of messages among other measures.

In addition, the proposed regulations would support “Canada's Tobacco Strategy” by preventing long-term dependence on tobacco, reducing tobacco-related death and disease, and reducing the burden on Canada's health care system and society.

Tobacco use continues to be the leading preventable cause of illness and premature death in Canada, killing approximately 48,000 Canadians each year.

While novel and provocative when introduced more than a decade ago, the current warnings on tobacco products have become stale for the 13 per cent of people in Canada who smoke and come across them regularly.

Labelling the tipping paper of cigarettes and other tobacco products would make it virtually impossible to avoid health warnings altogether. If implemented, Canada would be the first country in the world to introduce such a requirement.

The proposed regulations can be found in the Canada Gazette, Part I.          

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