Health unit welcomes new cigarette warning labels

Will warning labels on cigarettes deter smokers? Chris Campbell has local reaction to whether or not the new Health Canada requirement will help smokers curb the habit.

New regulations that require warning labels on individual cigarettes in Canada is set to come into effect Tuesday.

The move was announced earlier this year and is welcomed by the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) Board Chair, Fabio Costante.

“I think anything that we can do to warn individuals of the risks of cigarette smoking, I think should be exercised and this is an example of that,” Costante said.

He added, “Obviously we see the signs and the graphic photos on the cartons themselves. But, in some instances, if you’re borrowing a smoke or someone is delivering out cigarettes, to have it actually on the cigarette itself may be another trigger point which may hopefully mitigate some of the cigarette smoking that we’re seeing out there.”

Costante said the health unit may explore options to further promote the anti-smoking campaign, and admitted the subject hasn’t been discussed at the local level in great detail for some time.

“Maybe there could be an effort amongst health units to collaborate on this and do some form of marketing or advertising campaign to promote healthier living,” Costante said. “I guess this is somewhat emblematic of getting back to the new normal where we're starting to focus on things that we were focusing on pre pandemic.”

Constante said the negative health effects of smoking are well known, and therefore any message they can get out here to help mitigate the risks are a positive.

“I like the idea because I think smoking is horrendous,” said Windsor resident, Kirsten Blok. “And if we can break that generation jump that would be awesome.”

Others like Caroline Taylor agree, and believe the new warnings will be effective in making people think about the ramifications of tobacco use.

“I love the idea,” Taylor said. “Because back when the warnings were on the package, if you take your cigarette out, you put your package back in your back pocket and you forget about it. But if it's hanging out of your mouth and you're looking at it cross-eyed, you know it's never leaves you.”

In the meantime, current smokers like Sarah Wall told CTV News Windsor the new warnings won’t deter them from lighting up.

“No, not at all. Actually, my life is pretty stressful. So I'm gonna continue to smoke until as long as I can,” Wall said. “I don't really think it's going to make much of a difference. Cigarettes are addictive. So whether they put the label on the cigarette itself or on the pack, people are still going to smoke.”