Canada, warnings about the risks of smoking written on every single cigarette

The fight against smoking in Canada is increasingly tight. And, if the writings on cigarette packets – which warn of health risks – can be ignored, now these warnings will be carried on every single blonde, where it will be “practically impossible” not to read them. Between the sentences, “Cigarettes cause impotence” and “poison in every mouthful.”

It is the first time in the world that this measure has been applied: it is part of a large series of new tobacco regulations (Tobacco Products Appearance, Packaging and Labeling Regulations) – which will come into force this week and which foresee the gradual introduction of stricter controls over the next two years.

“Tobacco continues to kill 48,000 Canadians each year,” says Carolyn Bennett, who was Minister for Mental Health and Addiction when the rules were first announced. «We are the first country in the world to label individual cigarettes with health warning messages.

About today 13% of Canadians consume tobacco (and the cost to the public health system is over 6 billion dollars a year), but the smoking rate – half of the population smoked in 1965 – has steadily decreased, also thanks to the regulations in force, which have always been advanced and courageous. For example, Canada was the first country in the world, in 2001to request the manufacturers of print health warnings on packages of cigarettes. Indoor smoking bans were also instituted in that decade.

According to the new rules, the size of warning lettering now must occupy at least 75% of the surface of the packages of cigarettes. And the warnings will change every two to three years: on the other hand, research suggests that periodically updating these phrases and related images is an effective way to raise awareness of the health consequences of smoking.