Canada to Scrap New Cigarette Warnings

Source from:  UPI 12/09/2010

Canada spent six years and almost $4 million creating new health warnings for cigarette packages and then decided to abandon them, authorities said. In September, Health Canada halted the expected initiative to implement the updated warning labels, as federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said the government would focus instead on reducing the trade in contraband tobacco products, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Monday. Illegal tobacco products, widely available in Canada, have led to easier access for young smokers and lost tax revenue for federal and provincial governments. The health ministry spent $3.15 million on public opinion research, contracts and other expenses, and almost a half million to develop Quitline, a 1-800 number that would appear on cigarette packages, a document from Health Canada shows. Aglukkaq defended the decision to scrap the new health warning labels. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with taking a step back to re-examine whether we are making the investment in the right place to make the biggest difference within our prevention strategy for young people," she said in a statement. Others say the new warning should have gone forward. "The problem with Canada … is that we've had the same warnings on packs for almost 10 years now," said Dave Hammond, a professor at the University of Waterloo who consulted for Health Canada on the development of the new labels. "We've fallen off the pace. What were once the best warnings in the world are now looking stale and very old. In 2000, Canada became the first country to put graphic warning labels on cigarette packages. "We don't run the same TV advertisement for 10 years," Hammond said. "Nor should you have the same health warning for 10 years." Enditem