Graphic Labels Confront Canadian Smokers, Real-life images show the ravages of tobacco use
01/03/01
Ottawa -- With the first stroke of the New Year, Canada ushered in the
biggest, boldest and most shocking cigarette warning labels in the world.
The labels carry not just words but alarming color photos that graphically
depict the ravages of smoking
Depending on which of 16 rotating labels they encounter, smokers fumbling for
their next cigarette might see a photograph of a person's blackened, bleeding
gums and the words, "Warning: Cigarettes Cause Mouth Disease." Or, they might
see a photo of two sad-eyed boys and their plea: "Don't poison us." The text
warns that secondhand smoke contains carbon and other chemicals harmful to
children.
Under a law passed by Parliament in June, tobacco companies by Monday were
ordered to include the new messages on all cigarette packs shipped to
Canadian stores. It could take a few months, however, before the new packs
replace all the old ones on store shelves.
Some labels contain photos of a diseased heart, a lung tumor, a gangrenous
foot, or a sick baby connected to hospital monitors. In the lone display of
humor, one displays a photo of a bent cigarette next to the words, "Tobacco
Use Can Make You Impotent."
"These are things that really happen to people. It's not fake," said Cynthia
Callard, executive director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada. "If you
want to call it shock value -- well, some people may be shocked."
The labels are the product of cooperation between Health Minister Allan Rock
and a coalition of public interest groups that have long advocated stronger
warnings. The government also consulted advertising agencies.
The law requires that the labels cover at least half of the front and back
panels of the cigarette packs, plus a portion of the side panels. Package
inserts will contain more detailed information about the hazards of smoking
and how to quit.
The country's bilingualism shouldn't interfere with smokers getting the
desired message. The front and back panels will be identical -- except one
will be in English, the other in French.
Canada already laid claim to the strongest warning labels in the world. Since
1994, anti-smoking labels have covered as much as 40 percent of a package's
total surface and warned not only of disease but of addiction.
In the United States, where tobacco companies until recently have denied that
cigarettes are addictive, packages warn of direct effects such as lung
cancer, emphysema and fetal harm -- but not addiction. Also, the warnings are
relatively inconspicuous, appearing only on the side panels.
As in the United States, smoking rates in Canada declined in the 1980s but
over the last several years have held steady at about 25 percent of the
population. Smoking among young adults has increased to about 40 percent of
men and women in their early 20s. Tobacco companies fought the labels, at one
point seeking but failing to obtain a court injunction that would delay the
effective date.