April 2017

3rd Hand Smoke has harmful affects on Children & Adults

The Canadian federal government is finally proposing to raise the legal age for buying cigarettes to 21 and ban smoking on college campuses or inside condo and apartment buildings Canada wide as part of a new drive to dramatically curb smoking rates which has millions of Canadians happy to live in a healthier country and further phase out the toxic addiction of smoking which harms everyone including those who don't smoke - but are exposed to smokers. These numbers are not only from numerous online and social media polls, but also supported by Statistics Canada numbers showing that over 81% of Canadian residents who do not, or no longer, smoke from across the country that support various different political parties throughout every province. Now, many provincial governments and municipalities that are taking the current ban on smoking within 3-20 meters of front doors of buildings and air intakes a step better and are already taking the first healthy steps toward banning smoking anywhere in public parks also, such as the city of Kamloops, BC. Though the city of Kamloops has not implemented fines for contraventions yet, like some other cities, it is a positive step in the right direction to protect it's citizens including current and future residents that are able to vote for them in upcoming elections who support a smoke-free country.

The ideas are floated for discussion in a Health Canada paper that says the government wants to see smoking reduced to less than five per cent of the population by 2035 — a reduction of about two million people.

The current rate, based on a 2015 survey, is pegged at 13 per cent.
The consultation document also gives a cautious nod to the potential of vaping and new “heat-not-burn” cigarettes to reduce the harm of smoking, despite many public- health groups opposing the technologies.
The paper is being quietly distributed by the department as it develops a new national tobacco-control strategy.
“The government ... is committed to charting a new course in tobacco control that seeks to radically reduce the unacceptable burden inflicted on our society by tobacco use,” says the document.
One leading anti-smoking advocate says he is “delighted” to see Health Canada setting an aggressive target for reducing smoking, but disappointed it seems to have few concrete policy options in mind.

“I would have liked to see that (five per-cent goal) backed up with some indication that the government actually had a plan to achieve it, and was willing to be held ac‐ countable for achieving milestones along the way,” said Neil Collishaw, research director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada. “We’ve had consultation on consultation on consultation and we still don’t have a renewed strategy.”

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S PLAN CALLS FOR NO TOBACCO SALES TO UNDER-21s
He advocates more substantive policies, like regulations that prod the industry to move away from conventional cigarettes and policies to combat discount pricing of some cigarette brands, a trend he says is blunting the anti-smoking effects of high tobacco taxes.

Sources:
-http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/health-canada-proposing-smoking-ban-in-apartments-raising-legal-age-to-21-1.3301124
-http://news.nationalpost.com/health/ban-cigarette-sales-to-anyone-under-21-and-smoking-in-apartments-or-condos-ottawa-proposes
-Physicians For a Smoke Free canada - http://www.smoke-free.ca/eng_home/news_press.htm
-http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2017/sc-hc/H149-5-2017-eng.pdf
-The Montreal Gazette online news