Should Canada put even more graphic warning labels on its cigarettes?
Smokers get a raw deal, there may be no debate in that.
They get pushed out in the cold, often stink like Hell and, thanks to recent regulations, get taxed up the butt – pun intended.
For the latter, though, who can be surprised? In a nation where health care is largely supported by the Canadian taxpayer, how could we not levy higher penalties on smokers, a demographic that, for all the “But my grandpa smoked his entire life and he lived 'til 95!” stories, will likely require more medical attention than the average Canuck?
Still, in the U.S. at least, the above doesn’t appear to be enough. On the heels of America’s recent bid to socialize its health care system, the FDA’s Department of Health and Human Services has just proposed new, more graphic warning labels be put on all cigarette packages (see accompanying pics).
To which begs the obvious question: should Canada do the same?
Cigarette packs sold in Canada already boast some pretty nasty warning labels. You know the ones – the gross “mouth disease” one, the depressing “tobacco smoke can hurt your baby” one and, perhaps most potent, the to-the-point “limp cigarette, ‘cause this is what smoking will do to your man parts” one.
Yet since 2000, when the more extreme cigarette labels were first put on Canadian packs, it’d be tough to say they haven’t done their job.
According to Health Canada, 24 per cent of the 15-and-over Canadian population were smokers at the turn of the century. In 2009, nine years after the labels were put on packs and cartons, that number had dipped to 18 per cent.
Now, whether you believe such a decrease is just a sign of the times, or the result of the graphic cigarette labels, should preface your answer to the following question:
Should Canada consider placing even more obscene deterrent labels on the packs of the cigarettes it sells?
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
(*Images courtesy: FDA)
Posted by: yes do it | Nov 10, 2021 3:01:02 PM
Who knows if it does help people quit but what's the harm in trying. I say put more graphic pictures so those dumb ass smokers see it.
Posted by: manoli | Nov 10, 2021 3:58:53 PM
"In a nation where health care is largely supported by the Canadian taxpayer"???????
Who else pays for Canadian Health care???? The Taxpayer pays it all!!! and we still have the worst health care in the free world.
Posted by: Barb | Nov 10, 2021 4:03:06 PM
Yes, I agree more explicit warning labels should be on the packages!
I watched my Dad slowly die with COPD because he use to smoke 3
packages a day. I have really bad asthma as an adult, having grown
up with so much cigarette smoke over the years. It is no longer "cool"
to smoke which was the message my Dad got from watching all the
stars in movies smoke. The more deterrents, the better, is what I think,
so posting more warning labels is going in the right direction.
Posted by: Ban it. | Nov 10, 2021 4:04:46 PM
Just ban it already. No more smoking. Done.
Posted by: victoria trudeau | Nov 10, 2021 4:11:00 PM
Smokers save society alot of money because they die younger. No nursing home, pensions, meidcare costs, doctor costs, home care costs
Posted by: Barb | Nov 10, 2021 4:16:02 PM
Yes, i think more graphic labels should be put on cigarette packages. My aunt just died of Buerger's (?) Disease, after smoking for about 45 to 50 years, 2 packs a day! She was quite a sight when she died! She had been a large boisterous woman, always laughing and puffing away. She died at 72 years old and spent the last 2 - 3 years in hospitals. She had been losing for about 25 years! She lost parts of her fingers, one or two knuckles at a time, parts of her toes, then one whole lower leg and foot. When she was scheduled to lose her other leg and foot and parts of three more fingers, she died during the night. She had had her veins in her arms, legs, and necked worked on, but she continued to lose parts. She didn't have enough toes to walk properly and fell over, breaking both arms. And the pain that she went through with so many blackened body parts!! If children could see what old smokers look like, they might think twice about smoking. She was a tiny shrivelled up lady when she died. How much do you think the taxpapers paid to have her lay in hospital beds for two years?
Posted by: John | Nov 10, 2021 4:16:06 PM
Really. Put as many graphic pictures on the pack as you want. Make them as disgusting as you want. Put scary warnings ("Smoking has been shown to increase the chance of typhoons in small cities"). It honestly doesn't matter. It may be a deterant to not start smoking, but those who smoke will not be affected (or if affected, not for very long) by how obscene the pictures might be. But imagine a non-smoker catching a glimpse of the new proposed terrifying graphic pictures! Their reaction of horror would be amusing to see...
Posted by: joe smoker | Nov 10, 2021 4:19:28 PM
what about all the polluting cars trucks and factories. they don't warn you of the health affects that these cause and i'm sure that these are far more dangerous. as fr as the etesting of autos this is the biggest ripoff yet.
Posted by: Gabrielle Senoner | Nov 10, 2021 4:21:53 PM
Ban smoking! Forever and ever. Amen.
Posted by: Guest | Nov 10, 2021 4:39:53 PM
But no one talks about the fact that smokers are paying triple the tax on smokes alone on top of income and sales tax.
So think about it people, smokers are not only paying their cost of health care but the cost of 2 other cases of health care who might be in the hospital for obesity or drinking and driving.
Which one is worse?
Posted by: A | Nov 10, 2021 4:41:56 PM
Most smokers know they are addicted and know what smoking does. If a smoker wants to smoke pictures aint gonna do it.
SMOKERS HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS AS NON-SMOKERS EXCEPT FOR OUR HABIT. AS LONG A WE SMOKE OUTSIDE AND NO-ONE IS NEAR WHY DO YOU GIVE A CRAP. WE DONT BITCH ABOUT YOU LEAVE US ALONE, ITS OUR LIFE NOT YOURS.
Teens should not start ; Adults are just that ADULTS. the world does not revolve around YOU, non smokers, its OUR CHOICE!!!!
Posted by: George | Nov 10, 2021 4:45:46 PM
Sure it's bad for the health and a plan should likely be put in place to make it illegal.
But the witch hunt on smoking is actually entertaining - especially when I see obese folks crooning about the ill-effects.
Perhaps we should put warning labels on unhealthy foods and all packages from McDonalds. At this rate, it will actually be over-weight and obese folks who will be putting strain on the health system. Perhaps they should pay a sin tax for every pound over a healthy BMI (those with medical conditions would be exempt)
oh wait - it's not politically correct to point out people's weight - yet you can lynch people for killing themselves with alcohol, drugs and cigarettes. Ah the double standard with which we live.
Posted by: janice tobin | Nov 10, 2021 4:50:11 PM
YES more graphic !
Posted by: Kim | Nov 10, 2021 4:57:32 PM
They know the risk now more then ever and still chose to do it. i am sure they will cover the picture with a kitty or bunny or a quirk saying so adding more graphic pictures won't work. charge them more and more and more....
Maybe the younger generation is catching on and realize the consequences of smoking now better then their parents. is more education the answer?
Make them wait. You smoke and then get lung cancer and want a donor...sorry back of the line. They will smoke no doubt about it but who wants to pay for the care it will take to keep them alive when the time comes? not me.
Posted by: Rick | Nov 10, 2021 4:59:37 PM
Yes they should put more emphasis on the health risks , but if the government really cared that much about its citizens health ,then they should just ILLEGALIZE cigarettes!!
Or make it illegal for people under the "legal age" to be given a fine when either caught possessing tobacco products or smoking such, and really enforce the law !!!
Posted by: JARAD | Nov 10, 2021 5:00:32 PM
If you are a smoker chances are you rarely if ever look at the label and go "omg what am I doing I should quit" just because of the label. If its is a legal product in Canada leave it alone. It is already taxed and that tax money theoretically is the smokers paying for there healthcare later on down the road. We all know that isn't the case but, that is what should be happening with the money. And the government tells everyone to quit smoking yet if everyone did think of the lost revenue they would have on there hands. They dip there hands in both cookie jars and make as much money as they can by pitting each hand against the other.
Posted by: lloyd | Nov 10, 2021 5:01:11 PM
being one of those reformed "dumb ass smokers", i can tell you the labels don't make any difference. A smoker will still smoke, even to the point of taking off the oxygen to have a cigarette.
The best way to fix this, stop selling them period! But that will never happen, because the Government likes the tax money WAY TOO MUCH!
Posted by: Ann | Nov 10, 2021 5:02:51 PM
Yes, more graphic photos may help. But I also believe that more insurance plans should also cover the cost of smoking cessation aids, if only once. There are many people who want to quit but cannot afford the patch, or champix. It is much easier to come up with the price of a package of cigarettes than to pay $68.00 for a 2 week supply of champix or patches.
Posted by: Smokin Joe | Nov 10, 2021 5:03:11 PM
I don't smoke anymore and it wasn't the labels that made me quit it was the cost. In my opinion if it is really about health and the cost to the country than it's time they add pictures of diseased livers to beer cases and liquer bottles. Oh ya I forgot that won't happen because it's run by the government.
Posted by: Katherine Jane | Nov 10, 2021 5:21:19 PM
NO! Shouldent have too at all it's your chose to keep smoking and our taxpayer should not have to pay you should right out of your own pocket.