McGuinty Government Protects Children And Helps Smokers Quit
TORONTO, May 30 /CNW/ -
NEWS
As of May 31, 2008, the Smoke-Free Ontario Act prohibits the display of
tobacco products (http://www.otru.org/pdf/updates/search="display tobacco")
where they are sold.
Research (http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/11/suppl_1/i73)
suggests that removing the display of tobacco products at the point of sale
can help prevent young people from starting to smoke.
Selling cigarettes where candy and snacks are sold makes cigarettes seem
normal to young people. The Ontario Tobacco Research Unit reports
(http://www.otru.org/pdf/updates/search="display tobacco") that "in an Ontario
survey of youth aged 11 to 18 years, 85% of respondents spontaneously recalled
convenience stores as a place where they had seen cigarettes, over 75% said
they visited convenience stores at least once a week, and over 40%
spontaneously named at least one cigarette brand."
Studies suggest that removing point of sale advertising such as power
walls can help smokers try to quit and reduce relapses. A power wall is a wall
of cigarette packages that is typically behind the counter wherever those
products are sold. Removing power walls will eliminate a powerful trigger for
impulse cigarette purchases.
Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable disease and death in
Ontario, killing over 13,000 Ontarians every year. Tobacco-related diseases
have been estimated to account for: $1.6 billion in direct healthcare costs
and $4.4 billion in productivity losses each year.
The government made a commitment to reduce tobacco consumption by
20 per cent before the end of 2007. The latest figures indicate that this
target was achieved ahead of schedule. Between 2003 and 2006, there was a
31.8 per cent decline in tobacco consumption.
In the 2008 Budget, the Ontario government committed to a permanent
Retail Sales Tax exemption for nicotine replacement therapies to help Ontario
smokers to quit.
QUOTES
"The tobacco display ban is about saving lives and reducing healthcare
costs by preventing young people from starting to smoke and by helping smokers
to quit," said Health Promotion Minister Margarett Best. "Young people will no
longer be exposed to the open display and promotion of tobacco products in
stores, and there will be no more impulse buying triggered by power walls."
"Public health units are reporting that 95 percent of businesses will be
ready for the May 31st ban on tobacco products," said Ontario's Acting Chief
Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams. "Since our goal is to seek
voluntary compliance, tobacco enforcement officers will focus on educating and
working with tobacco vendors as the first step in a protocol of progressive
enforcement."
"We know that visual and environmental cues trigger cravings and relapse
in smokers who are trying to quit or have recently quit," says Peter Selby,
Clinical Director of Addiction Programs at the Centre for Addiction and Mental
Health. "Many smokers have difficulty visiting their corner store when trying
to quit because of the power walls. A display ban has great potential to help
these smokers stay quit."QUICK FACTS
- Tobacco products include cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, pipe
tobacco; and other specialty tobacco products, including chewing
tobacco, snus and snuff.
- A similar ban is in effect in Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nova
Scotia, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan. Quebec's
tobacco display ban also comes into effect on May 31, 2008.
LEARN MORE
Learn about the display ban
(http://www.mhp.gov.on.ca/english/health/smoke_free/display_ban/default.
asp) and set fines
(http://www.mhp.gov.on.ca/english/health/smoke_free/fact_sheets/10).
Find out where to get help to quit smoking
(http://www.smokershelpline.ca/).
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For further information: Julie Rosenberg, Communications, (416)
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