The move, announced earlier this year, makes Canada the first country in the world to take that step in the ongoing effort to help smokers kick the habit and deter potential puffers from picking it up.
Once the regulations take effect, manufacturers have until the end of July 2024 to ensure the warnings are on all king-size cigarettes sold, followed by regular-size cigarettes and little cigars with tipping paper and tubes by the end of April 2025."For youth who experiment by 'borrowing' a cigarette from a friend, it's going to mean they will see the cigarettes — even if they may not see the package — where the warnings appear," Cunningham said in a telephone interview.
Tobacco use continues to be one of Canada's most significant public health problems and remains the country's leading preventable cause of disease and premature death, then-health minister Jean-Yves Duclos said in a May 31 statement announcing the new warning labels.New health warnings coming to cigarettes | About ThatCanada will soon require health warnings on individual cigarettes, a world first.
He couldn't say "for sure" that the messaging will reduce rates, but he noted that past efforts have succeeded in tandem with other public health measures, such as including cessation strategies in cancer screening and care.