Today, Canada has implemented its new anti-tobbacco regulation of printing health warnings on individual cigarettes. 

The new regulations require each cigarette to display warnings such as "poison in every puff" and "cigarettes cause impotence."

The move is part of the Tobacco Products Appearance, Packaging, and Labelling Regulations (TPAPLR), a comprehensive plan to reduce smoking rates and protect public health.

Former Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Carolyn Bennett, who spearheaded the initiative, stated, "Tobacco use continues to kill 48,000 Canadians each year. We are taking action by being the first country in the world to label individual cigarettes with health warning messages."

Research has shown that periodically refreshing warnings with new images and text effectively raises awareness of the health risks among smokers. With approximately 13% of Canadians currently using tobacco, costing the public healthcare system over $6 billion annually, Canada's smoking rate has steadily declined due to increased awareness and stringent regulations.

The measure builds on Canada's obligation to put graphic visual warnings on tobacco product packaging, which set a global trend when it was implemented two decades ago.

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Canada has required visual warnings on tobacco products since 2001, but the images haven't been updated in a decade.

Over the years, smoking rates have consistently declined. According to recent statistics, 10% of Canadians reported smoking regularly. By 2035, the government hopes to have lowered that rate in half.

According to StatCan, approximately 11% of Canadians aged 20 and older are current smokers, compared to 4% of those aged 15 to 19.

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