Tougher tobacco warnings sought

Health minister favours messages on cigarettes

MONTREAL— The federal health minister says she’s in favour of putting health warnings directly on individual cigarettes in what she calls a “bold” idea.

The proposed measure is being studied by Health Department officials, Ginette Petitpas Taylor said Thursday as she announced Canada’s tobacco strategy.

“Some people have suggested the idea of putting a warning on individual cigarettes and using what we call sliding shell,” she told the Tobacco Control Forum on World No Tobacco Day.

“I have to tell you these ideas are being studied and I also have to tell you I really like them.”

Petitpas Taylor said she expects plain packaging for cigarettes to become reality by the end of the year after Bill S-5 received royal assent last week.

The new packaging rules for tobacco products prohibit promotional information, branding and logos, and were firmly opposed by Big Tobacco.

The Canadian Cancer Society’s Rob Cunningham welcomed the minister’s comments on the individual warnings.

“Under plain packaging, they will no longer be able to have that, so it is a great idea to have a health warning,” he said.

It could be as simple as a word like “cancer” or “emphysema” on a cigarette, Cunningham said.

The federal strategy unveiled Thursday aims to reduce the number of smokers by 2035, from the current level of about 15 per cent of the population to about 5 per cent or less.

“When I look at the rates of tobacco use, we have certainly come a long ways, but I personally believe a lot of work needs to be done in this area,” Petitpas Taylor said.