Health warnings will be printed on individual cigarettes in Canada in a first-of-its-kind move to combat smoking.
According to Health Canada, the new packaging will feature phrases such as: ‘Cigarettes cause cancer’ and ‘Poison in every puff’.
Products that will have labels on tipping paper include individual cigarettes, little cigars, tubes and other tobacco products.
The new regulations will come into force on August 1 2023. They will be implemented through a phased approach that will see most measures on the market within the next year.
The health agency anticipates that retailers in Canada will only carry tobacco products that feature the warning labels directly on the cigarettes by April 2025.
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Hard to avoid
In an announcement yesterday (Wednesday 31 May), Health Canada said the new regulations will make it ‘virtually impossible’ to avoid health warnings on products containing tobacco.
This comes as the UK launches a new government crackdown on vape marketing in a bid to reduce the targeting of children and young people.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to clamp down on the ‘unacceptable’ promotions of e-cigarettes as concerns build over increasing levels of vaping among young people.
A loophole that allows retailers to give free vape samples to children in England will close under the new plans.
This comes as recent NHS figures for 2021 showed that 9% of 11 to 15 year old children used e-cigarettes. This figure is up from 6% in 2018.
Sunak said: ‘I am deeply concerned about the sharp rise in kids vaping. I am shocked by reports of illicit vapes containing lead getting into the hands of school children.
‘Our new illicit vape enforcement squad – backed by £3 million – is on the case. But clearly there is more to do. That is why I am taking further action to clamp down on rogue firms who unlawfully target our children with these products.’
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