Native Cigarettes Canada offers indigenous tobacco products made by First Nations communities. These products claim to be different from commercially available cigarettes in terms of taste and quality. However, quality is subjective and what may be considered high-quality by one person may not necessarily be the same for another.

The smoking of cigarette is harmful to health and has been linked with a number of chronic conditions, including lung disease, cardiovascular problems, oedema, infections, and cancer. It is also an incredibly addictive substance. In addition, smoking increases the risk of developing a number of conditions, such as respiratory illnesses, asthma, ear infections, and SIDS.

Tobacco Control Policies: Impact on the Sale and Distribution of Native Cigarettes

In 2001, Canada became the first country to require gory health warnings covering 50 per cent of the front and back of packs. The tobacco industry argued that this was the only way to get the message across. In the meantime, local Aboriginal manufacturers set up “smoke shacks” along the roads and in the village centres of almost every reserve, selling native-made cigarettes at half the price of big brands.

Some First Nation lobby groups insist on the right to move cigarettes between reserves, protected by section 87 of the Indian Act. These cigarettes are then illegally resold without federal excise taxes to non-Aboriginal Canadians—most commonly by on-reserve smoke shacks but increasingly by criminal gangs off reserve.