#[1]alternate [2]‘Poison in Every Puff’ Among Warnings to Be Printed on
Canadian Cigarettes
[3]Skip to content
(BUTTON)
(BUTTON) Sections
(BUTTON) SEARCH
[4]Canada
[5]Today’s Paper
[6]Canada|‘Poison in Every Puff’ Among Warnings to Be Printed on
Canadian Cigarettes
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/31/world/canada/canada-cigarette-warnin
gs.html
* (BUTTON) Give this article
* (BUTTON)
* (BUTTON)
Advertisement
[7]Continue reading the main story
Supported by
[8]Continue reading the main story
‘Poison in Every Puff’ Among Warnings to Be Printed on Canadian Cigarettes
Tobacco companies must soon label individual cigarettes sold in the
country with a health warning, in what Canada is calling a global
first.
* Send any friend a story
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month.
Anyone can read what you share.
(BUTTON)
(BUTTON) Give this article
* (BUTTON)
* (BUTTON)
Six white cigarettes in a row with black writing on the filters,
reading “Cigarettes damage your organs,” “Cigarettes cause cancer,”
“Tobacco smoke harms children,” “Cigarettes cause impotence,”
“Cigarettes cause leukemia” and “Poison in every puff.”
The final wording of six separate warnings that will be printed
directly on individual cigarettes in Canada.Credit...Health Canada
By [9]Vjosa Isai
May 31, 2023, 6:01 p.m. ET
TORONTO — “Poison in every puff.” “Cigarettes cause impotence.”
“Tobacco smoke harms children.”
Those are the warnings that smokers in Canada will soon find on every
single cigarette they light, as the country sets into motion a plan
requiring tobacco companies to print health warnings directly onto
cigarette filters.
The labels will appear in English and French, Canada’s official
languages, and are intended to blunt the allure of smoking among young
people, adults looking to quit and those addicted to nicotine, the
government said on Wednesday.
Canada is a global leader in targeting tobacco use through health
hazard labels. Graphic illustrations of some of the health outcomes of
smoking, such as images of cancerous tumors or decaying teeth, have
appeared on cigarette boxes in Canada since 2001, when it became the
first country to [10]feature depictions of serious smoking-related
illnesses on packaging. It was also the first country to ban smoking on
its domestic flights, followed by [11]international flights on Canadian
airlines in 1994.
Smoking is on the decline in Canada, and the country’s health services
aim to reduce it even further. Currently, 10.2 percent of people over
age 15 smoke cigarettes, and the government’s goal is to reduce that to
less than 5 percent by 2035.
Within the next year, smokers will begin to see the new labels printed
on their individual cigarettes, as well as an updated warning label on
cigarette boxes.
“We are taking action by being the first country in the world to label
individual cigarettes with health warning messages,” Carolyn Bennett,
Canada’s minister of mental health and addictions, said in a statement.
“This bold step will make health warning messages virtually
unavoidable, and together with updated graphic images displayed on the
package, will provide a real and startling reminder of the health
consequences of smoking.”
Research suggests these types of labels can be helpful. [12]One study
published in 2006 of 9,000 adult smokers in Canada, the United States,
the United Kingdom and Australia found that people who noticed the
warnings had greater awareness of specific health risks associated with
smoking. A [13]meta-analysis published in 2015 that analyzed data from
several studies found that warning labels evoked negative attitudes
toward smoking and increased people’s intentions either to quit smoking
or not start smoking; however, image warnings were more effective than
text warnings.
Image
An image provided by Health Canada shows some of the warnings that will
be printed directly on individual cigarettes in Canada.Credit...Health
Canada
There was once extreme pushback against labeling policies decades ago,
but some tobacco companies, at least publicly, are endorsing the new
move. Rothmans, Benson and Hedges, the Canadian subsidiary of the
tobacco company Philip Morris International, said it [14]supported
Canada’s directive when the government announced its plans for the new
regulations last June.
Under the expanded labeling, people who smoke one pack per day would
see antismoking messages at least 7,300 times and even more when
accounting for each puff, said Geoffrey Fong, a psychology professor at
the University of Waterloo, in Ontario, and principal investigator at
the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project.
“There are no public health messages or messages of any kind that have
that type of exposure,” said Professor Fong. “There’s a lot of
potential for these dissuasive warning labels, dissuasive cigarettes,
to be impactful.”
Estimates on the number of smokers in the country vary, but according
to the [15]data published last August by Canada’s census agency, there
are 3.8 million daily and occasional smokers over the age of 12. About
48,000 Canadians die from smoking each year, the health agency said.
Dana G. Smith contributed reporting from Durham, N.C.
Vjosa Isai reports for The Times from Toronto. [16]@lavjosa
* (BUTTON) Give this article
* (BUTTON)
* (BUTTON)
Advertisement
[17]Continue reading the main story
Site Index
Site Information Navigation
* [18]© 2023 The New York Times Company
* [19]NYTCo
* [20]Contact Us
* [21]Accessibility
* [22]Work with us
* [23]Advertise
* [24]T Brand Studio
* [25]Your Ad Choices
* [26]Privacy Policy
* [27]Terms of Service
* [28]Terms of Sale
* [29]Site Map
* [30]Canada
* [31]International
* [32]Help
* [33]Subscriptions
References
Visible links
1. nyt://article/7fde5ea0-b015-586c-bff2-caeb5eb08049
2.
https://www.nytimes.com/svc/oembed/json/?url=
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/31/world/canada/canada-cigarette-warnings.html
3.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/31/world/canada/canada-cigarette-warnings.html#site-content
4.
https://www.nytimes.com/section/world/canada
5.
https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper
6.
https://www.nytimes.com/section/world/canada
7.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/31/world/canada/canada-cigarette-warnings.html#after-top
8.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/31/world/canada/canada-cigarette-warnings.html#after-sponsor
9.
https://www.nytimes.com/by/vjosa-isai
10.
https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/20/world/canada-seeks-to-jolt-smokers-with-a-picture-on-each-pack.html
11.
https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/29/us/canada-bans-smoking-on-its-airline.html
12.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2593056/
13.
https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/25/3/341
14.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/10/world/canada/single-cigarettes-warning.html
15.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310009601
16.
https://twitter.com/lavjosa
17.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/31/world/canada/canada-cigarette-warnings.html#after-bottom
18.
https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014792127-Copyright-notice
19.
https://www.nytco.com/
20.
https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015385887-Contact-Us
21.
https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015727108-Accessibility
22.
https://www.nytco.com/careers/
23.
https://nytmediakit.com/
24.
https://www.tbrandstudio.com/
25.
https://www.nytimes.com/privacy/cookie-policy#how-do-i-manage-trackers
26.
https://www.nytimes.com/privacy/privacy-policy
27.
https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014893428-Terms-of-service
28.
https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014893968-Terms-of-sale
29.
https://www.nytimes.com/sitemap/
30.
https://www.nytimes.com/ca/?action=click®ion=Footer&pgtype=Homepage
31.
https://www.nytimes.com/international/?action=click®ion=Footer&pgtype=Homepage
32.
https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us
33.
https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=37WXW
Hidden links:
35.
https://www.nytimes.com/
36.
https://www.nytimes.com/
37.
https://www.nytimes.com/
