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.

  • Züri@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Back when I was a smoker they could have written on them that it kills a baby every time i take a puff.

    I would not have cared.

    • pec@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      They article mention it’s more about discouraging teens from starting smoking than making current smokers quit.

      It kind of make sense since you start smoking by receiving a single cigarette not by buying a pack. I know at my high school a lot of smokers started smoking by buying individual smoke from the smoke pusher

        • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          I laugh about the flavored vape bans “think of the children, only a child would want a fruity or sweet vape” Then you walk into a liqour store and there is now literally “Hard Mountain Dew” “Sunny D Vodka Seltzer” and “Fresca Mixed”. It’s disgusting, alcohol is like the 3rd or 4th leading cause of death and you hear diddly about it. Commercial comes on and they pour a nice 10 ounce glass of “insert whiskey” followed briefly by “Drink Responsibly” in 8pt font.

          • UnverifiedAPK@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            Tbf Mountain Dew was originally made to be a mixer with whiskey. They’re just cutting out the middle man now.

      • Züri@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        True.

        What would have keept me most from starting to smoke would have been the price.

        I mean. A pack of cigarettes is now around 8 swiss francs. Was half that when I started.

        I am not sure wether it would be worth that much money for me back when I started when it would have been already as expensive as it is today.

        Luckily I found vaping to get me of nicotine. And then stopped all together when I lost my vape pen.

    • cnnrduncan@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      Yeah here in NZ nobody who smokes really pays attention to the graphic photos of sick children and diseased organs that they put on (legal) packets.

    • fomo_erotic@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Seems like you could market a line with even worse statements on it:

      “This cigarette kills babies”

  • Yerbouti@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    At that point, let’s just force people to smoke in specific areas where they are forced to listen to Nickelback.

  • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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    1 year ago

    If you don’t want people smoking, just grow some testicles and ban it. You’ll probably take a hit in popularity at the next election and lose some money in tax revenue, but people will swap to vapes and you’ll save a load of money on lung cancer treatments and street sweepers.

    At this point everyone is well aware that they’re bad for you. More warnings isn’t going to do a thing. Nobody is going to get one of these new printed ones and go “Oh, I didn’t know that!” and stop.

    • jerkface@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Right, that’s worked so well for every other substance that has been banned. Surely the most addictive drug known to most people will go just as well!

  • Millie@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    There’s no way the ink doesn’t make them even worse. I’ve always loved Canada’s over the top approach to visually discouraging smoking by hijacking half the pack with a picture. My favorite when I smoked cigarettes was the one with the kids giving you a judgemental look.

    Given the numbers in this article, though, I’m not sure how well it’s working.

      • Millie@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        One could say the same of the ambient air in much of Canada lately, but I don’t think pouring ink on the trees would better the situation.

    • Hyperi0n@lemmy.film
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      1 year ago

      All of what Canada is doing(removing flavored cigarettes, removing logos and designs on packaging, banning advertising, warning labels on package and now the cigarettes) is to discourage teen smoking.

      It’s working. Less and less teens are smoking(27% in the 90s, 14% in 2008, 5% in 2019 amd 3% in 2020).

      In fact smoking is down across the board.

      https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/canadian-tobacco-nicotine-survey/2020-summary.html

      • ikidd@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Oh, come on. All those things do nothing to stop teens from smoking, the drop in teen smoking is from educating them in classrooms about the dangers of smoking. Warnings on cigarette packs are just a dog and pony show.

  • Pixlbabble@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Wait so you’re smoking the ink too? OR is it more waste of paper over the cigarette?

  • Fazoo@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    If putting diseased lungs on cartons and boxes didn’t do it, what the fuck makes them think this will? Such a waste of time. Lol

    • jerkface@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      What do you mean, “didn’t do it?” It was a famously successful intervention that has been copied around the world. Obviously it didn’t cause every single smoker to quit, but it had a measurable beneficial effect.

      • auth@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        From the pictures it doesn’t appear to be printed on the filter but either way you put the filter in your mouth

        • lenathaw@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

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

          Right there in the article. Putting a piece or printed paper in your mouth does not damage your organs, cause impotence nor leukemia.