CALGARY — Two Alberta health groups want a grim photo of an Edmonton woman in the final stages of lung cancer used in anti-smoking ads across the country.
Barb Tarbox, who died when she was 41, became an anti-tobacco activist a decade ago after she learned she had the disease.
The health groups are pressing the Harper government to go ahead with new Health Canada warnings which stalled in September.
The U.S. government is recommending the photo of Tarbox be used in proposed graphic health warnings about cigarettes south of the border.
Pat Tarbox says it is disheartening that his wife’s likeness may not see the light of day in Canada but could end up sending a message to millions of Americans.
Canada was the first country to put graphic pictures on cigarette packages, but the Canadian Cancer Society says the country now lags behind several others in how big those images are supposed to be.