London, Ont. health official: New warnings on cigarettes will help prevent youth smoking

London-Middlesex health officials say the new incoming warning labels on individual cigarettes will help deter youth smoking.

Beginning Tuesday, new Health Canada regulations come into effect that require labels on each individual cigarette warning smokers of the risks.

Linda Stobo, the manager of the substance use program with the Middlesex-London Health Unit, says she believes the new warnings will help prevent young Canadians from picking up the harmful habit.

“This will help ensure that those young people, who may not see a pack ’cause they are relying on a friend to get a cigarette, they will actually see the health warning,” said Stobo.

The wording on each cigarette, written in English and French, will feature warnings of the harms they can cause, such as heart disease and leukemia.

Stobo says the warnings on each cigarette “enable a conversation to take place” about the harms of smoking.

“It enables them to pause and think about if this is something they really want to light up,” added Stobo.

The new regulations were first announced in May by then-health minister Jean-Yves Duclos. He said tobacco use continues to be one of Canada’s most significant health problems. He added it is the country’s leading preventable cause of disease and premature death.

Canada is the first country to introduce the new warnings on individual cigarettes. Stobo noted Canada was also the first country to require tobacco companies to have warnings on the packaging and included health-promoting messages.

Since 2001, Stobo says there has been extensive international research on whether health warnings are effective. Stobo says the research, coupled with public opinion polls, has reinforced the belief that the warnings can be effective.

“The more that they read and see health warnings that are updated, timely, that aren’t the same message over and over again, that it will in fact increase the likelihood that they won’t start and it will help those individuals who are addicted in their quit attempt,” Stobo said.

While the new regulations come into effect Tuesday, it will be almost a year until the warnings are first seen on a cigarette.

King-size cigarettes will feature the warnings first, beginning 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.

A new set of warnings different from the initial batch will be expected to appear in 2026.