Health organizations in Ontario are at war over what to do about youth smoking, after a recent study by the Canadian Convenience Stores Association found that 26 per cent of cigarette butts found on school properties were from illegal tobacco products.
While the study blames the contraband industry, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and various health groups argue it doesn’t matter where youth get tobacco.
“It’s not about contraband cigarettes, it’s about educating students that they shouldn’t be smoking in the first place,” says Sharlene Hunter, communications officer for the school board.
Hunter says the board will continue to educate teens about the dangers of smoking, but that it was confused why the study offered no recommendations on how to fix the contraband problem.
“[We] really felt that the study stopped short,” Hunter says. "It’s like they did half the job.”
Cynthia Callard, executive director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, says convenience stores are not trying to help at all.
“The convenience store operators are trying to deflect attention away from the tobacco problem they’re contributing to, and they’re trying to suggest that it’s other people that are responsible.”
Although youth smoking rates are at an all-time low, Dave Bryans, president of the association that produced the study, says convenience stores are doing their part to stop selling to minors.
The illegal industry makes up 48 per cent of all tobacco sales in Ontario, says Bryans, and adds that last year it was 32 per cent, and 21 per cent the year before.
“I think it’s time [health organizations] came to the table and got serious about all the things they’ve told us to get serious about,” Bryans says.
Recently, Bryans and his association have been pushing for the province to make possession of tobacco illegal among teens. But health organizations say that will not correct the problem.
“It’s an attempt . . . to shift responsibility on to the backs of people who are young and underage,” Callard says, adding that Ontario had an ineffective law against youth possession of tobacco from 1904 until 1990.
But Bryans scolds health groups for criticizing the association, while standing by as the youth tobacco problem gets worse.
“I think all of us, including [health organizations] and Cynthia Callard have an obligation to work together to start going down a road to start protecting teens.”
The school board says it recognizes its responsibility in the issue, and says it encourages a dialogue on what to do about contraband tobacco.