Those graphic, even grisly, warnings on Canadian cigarette packages appear to be having the desired effect, data from a Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) survey indicate. Among smokers surveyed, 43% said the warnings raised their concern about the health effects of smoking and 44% said they are now more motivated to quit.
The results arrived just as tobacco companies prepared to go to the Quebec Superior Court to challenge the Tobacco Act, Bill C-71. They're hoping to use the courts to eliminate the graphic warnings, advertising restrictions and related measures.
Since January 2001, tobacco companies have had to use 1 of 16 health warnings on the top half of each package. The warnings depict lung tumours, rotted teeth, brain damage, male impotence and other subjects.
The survey report, Evaluation of New Warnings on Cigarette Packages, presents the results of a fall 2001 survey of more than 2000 adults across Canada, of whom 633 were smokers. Among the smokers, 570 (90%) say they had noticed the new warnings.
The results pleased both the society and Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada. “They exceeded our expectations,” says Executive Director Cynthia Callard.
In March Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. said the warnings hadn't affected sales. Spokesperson Yves Thomas Dorval pointed out that the rate of decline in sales has remained constant for the past 40 years, including the past year. (On Apr. 30, Statistics Canada's announced that cigarette sales had dropped by 5.2% in the first quarter, the biggest decline in a decade.) The tobacco companies are attempting to remove the warnings and overturn advertising restrictions because they say these measures exceed guidelines established in 1995.
The “draconian measures prohibit our communicating to our consumers,” complains John MacDonald of Rothmans, Benson & Hedges. However, the Cancer Society says the legislation falls well within the Supreme Court guidelines. — Debra Martens, Ottawa
Figure. Scary enough? Photo by: Health Canada