Canada unveiled some of the world’s largest and most graphic anti-smoking labels on the grounds that smokers were starting to ignore existing warnings on cigarette packs. Some of the labels include pictures of a woman dying of lung cancer in a hospital bed, a man with a hole in this throat after surgery for smoking-related larynx cancer, and a close-up shot of a diseased and cancerous tongue. “We want to make the images larger and more noticeable and more understandable … The images are pretty gross. They can be a little bit scary as well, but that is the reality of smoking,” said federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq. “Over time, people get used to seeing the old pictures so we want to grab people’s attention once again,” she said. Existing anti-smoking labels cover 50% of a pack but the new labels will have to cover 75% of the front and back of each pack of cigarettes and small cigars. Tobacco manufacturers and importers will have until March 21, 2012 to switch over to the new labels and retailers must only carry packs with the bigger warnings by June 19, 2012.
