Canada has become the first country to put warning messages on cigarettes — not just cigarette packages.
Manufacturers will be required by today, to ensure that warnings about harms such as cancer, impotence, leukemia and damage to organs are printed directly on individual cigarettes. Retailers must then sell only packages with those cigarettes by July 31.
There are six health warnings printed directly on cigarettes, including “Tobacco smoke harms children” and “Poison in every puff.”
More than one million people in Canada have died from tobacco-related illness including cancer, heart disease and emphysema since 2000.
Once fully implemented, cigarettes sold in Canada will feature one of these six warnings:
- Cigarettes damage your organs;
- Cigarettes cause cancer;
- Tobacco smoke harms children;
- Cigarettes cause impotence;
- Cigarettes cause leukemia; or
- Poison in every puff.
Written by: The Canadian Press
