Canada starts putting health warnings on individual cigarettes

In a world first, new laws in Canada requiring health warnings directly on individual cigarettes came into effect this week.

The warnings, to be printed in English and French, will include phrases such as "Cigarettes cause cancer" and "Poison in every puff".

Canada is the first country in the world to adopt the policy.

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The new regulations took effect from August 1 and the public will see the new warnings from next year.

The messages will appear near the filter and will include warnings about the risk of leukaemia and damaging children's health.

King size cigarettes will be the first to feature the individual health warnings and will be sold by retailers in Canada by the end of July 2024, followed by regular size cigarettes and little cigars with tipping paper, and tubes, by the end of April 2025.

The Canadian government said smoking kills 48,000 people every year and the new warnings aimed at deterring young people from taking up smoking and helping existing smokers kick the habit.

"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," Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said.

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"Our government is using every evidence-based tool at our disposal to help protect the health of Canadians, especially young people."

In May, health officials said the labels on individual cigarettes will make it "virtually impossible" for smokers to avoid warnings.

The regulation is part of the country's goal to drop its nationwide tobacco use to less than 5 per cent by 2035.

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