Is it time to require cigarette style warning labels on alcohol packages?

By now, Canadians are used to those sometimes graphic warning labels on cigarette packages that say things like 'smoking causes cancer.'

Well, there's now a discussion brewing about whether we should adopt similar legislation for alcohol packages.

Kudos to the National Post's Tom Blackwell for discovering a commentary — recently published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal — from Mohammed Al-hamdani who says that such warning labels could help raise awareness about the dangers of high-risk drinking.

"Like cigarettes, alcohol is a social drug associated with considerable health and social costs. Relative to cigarettes, regulators worldwide have imposted very modest restrictions in its advertisements. Studies on alcohol health warnings show that they do not have a strong effect on influencing recall, perceptions, and behaviors. Poorly visible and ambiguous health warnings plus the absence of pictorial warnings muddy previous studies," the abstract to Al-hamdani's research paper notes.

"This study takes a different approach, extracting lessons from cigarette health warnings literature for application to the alcohol health warnings’ research and practice. I recommend the development of direct health warnings; increase in visibility of the warnings; incorporation of pictorial health warnings; and consideration of plain packaging for alcohol products. A toolkit of these best practices could advance the case for stringent alcohol health warnings policies."

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According to the National Post, about 20 other countries already have alcohol labeling legislation.

In the United States, all alcohol packages are mandated to say: "According to the Surgeon General, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects" and "Consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and may cause health problems."

In Russia, wine and vodka bottles must have a label with the following text: "Alcohol is not for children and teenagers up to age 18, pregnant & nursing women, or for persons with diseases of the central nervous system, kidneys, liver, and other digestive organs."

And, in Thailand, they're a little more aggressive: their government requires warning labels to cover 30 per cent of an alcohol package and include graphic pictures. One label appears to show the feet of a man being hung with the text: "Drinking alcohol leads to unconsciousness and even death."

Research shows that alcohol labels do not, by themselves, have much of an effect on alcohol consumption. But there's some evidence that suggests that it can help reduce alcohol abuse if the labeling is part of a broader strategy — things like education programs in schools and a social media campaign.

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The labeling debate is not new to this country.

In 2001, NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis had her motion — to require labels on alcohol warning of the dangers of drinking while pregnant — pass in the House of Commons by a vote of 217-11. The law was never implemented.

In 2005, Liberal MP Paul Szabo introduced a private members' bill to force producers to include a wide-range of warnings on their products.

"If we could help save one life or someone from misery for their full life, this bill is worth going forward with," Szabo, said in 2005, according to CBC News.

At the time — according to CBC — the beverage industry fought back arguing labeling would cost the industry between $15 million to $20 million each year to implement.

What do you think?

Should alcohol producers in Canada be forced to put warning labels on their packaging?

Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Alcohol statistics in Canada: (Source: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health research)

- Over 80 per cent of Canadian adults drink alcohol

- Approximately 20 per cent of drinkers, drink above the Canadian low-risk drinking guidelines

- In 2002, alcohol was responsible for 8.22 per cent of all deaths under the age of 70 and just over 7 per cent of all hospital days in Canada

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