Canada is the first nation to use warnings on individual cigarettes in an effort to deter smoking.

Canada will be the first nation to start printing warnings directly onto individual cigarettes in a bid to deter young people from starting smoking and encourage others to quit.

The warnings, which will be in English and French, will include phrases like “Cigarettes cause cancer” and “Poison in every puff”.

The new regulations go into effect on Tuesday.

Starting next year, Canadians will begin to see the new warning labels.

By July 2024 manufacturers will have to ensure the warnings are on all king-size cigarettes sold, and by April 2025 all regular-size cigarettes and little cigars with tipping paper and tubes must include the warnings.

The phrases will appear by the filter, including warnings about harming children, damaging organs and causing impotence and leukaemia.

In May, Health Canada said the new regulations “will make it virtually impossible to avoid health warnings” on tobacco products.

A second set of six phrases is expected to be printed on cigarettes in 2026.

The move is part of Canada’s effort to reduce tobacco use to less than 5% by 2035 and follows a 75-day public consultation period that was launched last year.

Canada has required the printing of warning labels on cigarette packages since 1989 and in 2000 the country adopted pictorial warning requirements for tobacco product packages.

Health Canada said it plans to expand on warnings by printing additional warning labels inside the packages themselves, and introducing a new external warning messages.

Dr Robert Schwartz, of the University of Toronto, told BBC News it was good news that Canada was “moving forward with this innovation”.

“Health warnings on individual cigarettes will likely push some people who smoke to make a quit attempt and may prevent some young people from starting to smoke,” he said.

He also pointed to New Zealand, which has introduced very low nicotine cigarettes, as a leader in limiting the use of tobacco.

Mr Schwartz added: “These are the kinds of measures needed if we are serious about decreasing tobacco use.”

Tobacco use continues to kill 48,000 Canadians each year.

“Tobacco use continues to be one of Canada’s most significant public health problems, and is the country’s leading preventable cause of disease and premature death in Canada,” Public Services Minister Jean-Yves Duclos has previously said.

The Canadian Cancer Society, Canada’s Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Lung Association have all praised the warning labels, saying they hope the measures will deter people, especially young people, from taking up smoking in the first place.

Cigarette smoking is widely regarded as a risk factor for lung cancer, heart disease and stroke.

In Canada, the rate of smokers aged 15 years or older is around 10%, according to a national 2021 Tobacco and Nicotine survey but electronic cigarette use has been on the rise.

  • OminousHum@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    2 years ago

    I bet it would be a lot more effective if they just printed a penis down the length of every cigarette.

    • Adeptfuckup@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      Agreed, it’s a very stupid idea. They should print ‘Known by the state of California to cause cancer’ just to drive home how incredibly stupid this idea is.

    • Touching_Grass@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      Maybe “they” will. Worked on me though. Took sometime but after years of the warnings it finally sunk into me how dumb smoking was and I quit. Some people are not reachable but the anti smoking campaign is working because we’ve seen huge reduction in smokers since its started

      • Shard@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        Education and awareness isn’t the only reason we see less smokers.

        Less harmful alternatives with the ability to allow users to taper off have now become common place.

  • solidsnake2085@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 years ago

    My friend from Canada comes to visit and is a smoker. She brings packs with her and the entire pack is covered in warnings and pictures. I asked her if it bothers her and and she said, “I don’t even notice them anymore.” I highly doubt putting a warning on each cigarette is going to do anything.

    • Polar@lemmy.caEnglish
      2·
      2 years ago

      People who have lung cancer continue to smoke in the hospital. Alcoholics continue to drink, even after massive accidents.

      People addicted to things don’t care.

      • Zak@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        2 years ago

        How many people don’t know smoking is harmful to their health at the time they start? I think that fact has pervaded the public consciousness, yet people still start smoking.

  • Twisting0347@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 years ago

    “Poison in every Puff”

    Don’t threaten me with a good time!

    Joking aside, I’m fairly ambivalent about this as a smoker. I hope it helps people avoid smoking but not sure how effective these warnings are.

    • janus2@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      Former smoker. The specific medical warnings are good imo. “Poison in every puff” is a little too goofy and my inner teenager reaction is just “hell yeah” hahaha. Which is funny, but also counterproductive.

      • Buddahriffic@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        Though if it just means it costs the cigarette companies a bit more to produce each cigarette and makes it harder for them to divert inventory for one market to another if their predictions turn out not so good, that’s still a win.

        Though, now I’m suddenly wondering why cigarette company profits aren’t taxed at like 90%.

        • SmoothIsFast@citizensgaming.comEnglish
          0·
          2 years ago

          Damn now that’s actually a great reason, at first I thought it would be a complete waste to stop people and yeah it probably is but at least it puts more cost on those companies participating in production and distribution so that’s a win in my books.

      • Spendrill@lemm.eeEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        Long time ago my brand was Death cigarettes. The pack had a skull on it and a portion of the price of packet went to cancer research. I knew that smoking was bad idea but it was an excellent drug delivery system.

    • ShakeThatYam@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      I quit smoking almost a decade ago. But I feel like if I was still smoking this would only make me want to smoke more. Watching the warnings slowly burn away would be relaxing.

      • doppelgangmember@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        They fked up

        They should’ve printed anatomical lungs on the cigarette that showed them getting darker with soot as the cig burns

        More ominous and a picture is worth a 1000 words. And some ppl dont/cant read tbf

  • Hazdaz@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 years ago

    Completely and utterly pointless.

    This will not change anything. It won’t convince any more people to quit.

    Smoking trends have been on the correct trajectory for decades now. I recall seeing a scientific study on Reddit a few years ago that stated in cases like this where people are faced with overwhelming evidence contrary to their current opinions or lifestyles, people tended to double and triple-down on their opinions and habits. The more push there was, the bigger the blow-back. People are stubborn even when it comes to their health.

    I have little doubt that the smoking trend will continue to drop, but wasting ever more resources with gimmicks like this might actually slow that downward trend some. Smokers know cigarettes are dangerous and cause cancer. Everyone does. It is beyond common knowledge at this point. Just let it all play out.

    • thedirtyknapkin@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 years ago

      oof you need to keep more up to date on that kind of data, the trend has reversed in recent years with teenage and childhood vaping creating a new pathway to smoking.

      • LeylaLove@lemmy.fmhy.netEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        Smoking is still going down. The disposable vapes right now are so strong that they make cigarettes pointless. Can’t even feel a smoke after I’ve had one of those cheap 50mg vapes for a few days.

    • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.caEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      In marketing, this would be considered an awareness campaign. The problem is, that everyone knows.

      IMO, this is akin to Google advertising that their search engine exists, it’s pretty good, and you should try it. Alternatively, it would be apple informing people that they make electronics like computers and cellphones… (Not a specific one, just… In general). Or Nike running ads to say that they make shoes.

      Thanks, everyone knows that (household name) does (the thing it does), this is not helpful.

  • Legendsofanus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 years ago

    What about e-cigs and vape? They’re the new hip and most young people are catering to that now some even rationalizing that they do it because it doesn’t have nicotine and is therefore not dangerous.

  • Melkath@kbin.social
    0·
    2 years ago

    Stupid fixation for idiots with control issues.

    It is all about creating and enforcing a subclass to abuse and shame.

    • WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      I thought that when I first read this thread, but a little googling revealed that cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada (as of 2019). With that perspective, it makes a little more sense why they would be targeting this issue specifically, even if it is almost guaranteed to not stop the majority of users.

      • Melkath@kbin.social
        0·
        2 years ago

        I see your point, but also, it takes 40 to 60 years for cancer to manifest from cigarettes. At that, there are SO many other cancer sources, that you cannot associate the cancer solely to the cigarettes.

        Baby powder, antacids, aspertame. Those are the most recent carcinogens that have actually been shown the cause cancer in a more aggressive timeframe, and I would go so far to say that it took so long to discover those dangers because doctors just blamed ALL THE CANCER on the cigarettes.

        • WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          2 years ago

          I generally agree that I think there are bigger fish to fry that don’t bring any joy to the user. I smoke weed and smoked cigarettes in the past and have no illusions about their safety, but at the same time I recognize that I get a benefit from it and it outweighs the risk for me.

          I was simply trying to point out that this is actually aimed at their primary cause of death rather than being a simple scapegoat to take focus off of other issues.

    • Mereo@lemmy.caEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      … what?! Canada has universal health care and it costs taxpayers too much money to treat cigarette related illnesses. It’s all about educating the population about the risk and having a healthier population.

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 years ago

      How about we don’t criminalize a plant anymore and build a better world where no one feels like they need dangerous habits for a dopamine hit?

      Nah crazy talk. Banning plants works so well. No one uses cannabis or cocaine or opioids anymore.

    • setVeryLoud(true);@lemmy.caEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      NZ already did this, existing smokers above age 16 or something are grandfathered in, and then each year the minimum age increases until no one can buy smokes.

      Tobacco is one of those products that causes a lot of harm to people and those around them for little benefit. Other drugs can either be enjoyed alone, or easily be consumed in a different form that doesn’t involve smoking and / or harming others.

      • asdfasdfasdf@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        2 years ago

        Then create a law where cigarette smoking in public is illegal and smoking means you opt out of health care the rest of your life, or else need to sign up for a “smokers plan” which has much higher costs to you. Also make sure you only sell your things to other smokers because of third hand smoke.

    • tempest@lemmy.caEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      What resources? The cost to print those messages is so small and shouldered by the manufacturer. The government doesn’t care it’s going to cost another half cent per cigarette wrapper and the majority of legally purchased cigarette cost is tax at this point.

      I more curious if they will have to be printed on the big bags of smokes people get from the resi.

    • Mereo@lemmy.caEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      You need the know context. Canada’s has universal healthcare and it costs taxpayers too much money to treat cigarette related illnesses.

      • JenIsBringingTheDrugs@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        2 years ago

        “The phrases will appear by the filter, including warnings about harming children, damaging […]”

        Looks like it might be on the filter part though the wording is kinda ambiguous

      • Melkath@kbin.social
        0·
        2 years ago

        At the start of the cigarette propaganda machine, asbestos filters were added to cigarettes to make them safer.

        I want to say that it isn’t being done on purpose, but there is no way I believe that inhaling ink isnt a larger carcinogenic risk than the tobacco alone.

        Creating a red herring problem to baselessly add pathos to your power trip.

    • strawberrysocial@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      They are actually considering adding warning labels to booze in Canada like they have on cigarette packages. I’m unsure if they’ll go full gory photos of damaged organs and dying people but they are thinking of putting a label of some sort on it.

      • ANGRY_MAPLE@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        0·
        2 years ago

        I mean, if the concern is public health, I don’t see why not. To be honest, I’m actually kind of suprised that they haven’t yet. Cannabis, too.

        It might be a bit of a pain for companies to re-fit their labelling machines with the new labels, but after the hypothetical switch there would probably be nearly no difference in terms of manufacturing. Waiting for the labels to arrive would probably take the longest.

        Source: I’ve worked in food manufacturing

  • 👍Maximum Derek👍@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago

    Makes perfect sense. The warnings on every pack have stopped being effective so start printing lessor warnings on the part that’s immediately thrown away.

    • Scubus@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      Honestly why not skip the middle man and pass legislation to get them to stamp the warning directly in my lungs