Tobacco control – what we’re fighting for right now

Ban all flavoured tobacco products

Bill C-32 made important progress by banning flavoured cigarettes, blunt wraps and little cigars as of July 2010. But menthol cigarettes and many flavoured tobacco products remain on the market. Water pipe tobacco (also known as shisha or hookah), smokeless tobacco and bidis are available in fruit and candy flavours. These products strongly appeal to youth and young adults. Health Minister Rona Ambrose should bring forward a regulation to ban all flavoured tobacco products –as Brazil has done, effective September 2013.

Renew health warnings for all tobacco products

As of June, 2012, a new series of picture health warnings were required to cover 75% of the package front and back for cigarettes and some little cigars. Canada’s new warnings are among the best in the world but many product categories are not covered by these regulations. As a next step, Health Minister Ambrose should renew warnings for all other tobacco products. Warnings for roll-your-own tobacco, smokeless tobacco, cigars and pipe tobacco have not been changed since 2001. Well-designed health warnings are effective at increasing awareness and decreasing tobacco use.

Implement plain packaging

Tobacco companies have used product packaging as an effective marketing strategy to depict positive lifestyle images, convey deceptive messages and detract from health warnings. The Society has long called for plain packaging to end the use of packaging as a promotional tool. Health Minister Ambrose should take steps to implement plain packaging. Australia became the first country to implement plain packaging as of December, 2012

Increase tobacco taxes

Increasing the price of cigarettes is one of the most effective ways to encourage smokers to quit and to prevent youth from starting to use tobacco. A price increase of 10% will generally result in a decrease in consumption of 4%. Federal tobacco taxes have not increased since 2002, meaning that real tobacco tax rates have in effect decreased due to inflation. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty should start to increase tobacco taxes, following the lead of all provinces.

What we’re fighting for in New Brunswick

Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease, disability and death in Canada. According to the most recent data from the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS), the current smoking prevalence in New Brunswick is 19%, still higher than the national smoking prevalence of 17%. New Brunswick’s smoking rate among 20-24 year olds remains alarmingly high at 25%.

Banning smoking in outdoor spaces

Currently, the Smoke-Free Places Act restricts tobacco use in only one outdoor venue: school grounds. According to a recent poll commissioned by the Canadian Cancer Society New Brunswick, there is significant public support for legislation that would designate specific outdoor spaces as smoke-free, particularly entrances and exits and spaces frequented by children.

The Canadian Cancer Society New Brunswick is calling on the Government of New Brunswick to amend the Smoke-Free Places Act to include:

Entrances, exits and air intakes of all public buildings (six metres).
Outdoor bars and patios with designated perimeters.
All provincially-designated parks.
All children’s playgrounds.
Recreational/sports fields.

Flavoured tobacco

Despite recent federal regulations on cigarillo sales, product redesign by tobacco companies has promoted continued and widespread availability of flavoured tobacco in New Brunswick. Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (2011) data reported that 29.7% of New Brunswick youth aged 15-19 have tried cigarillos and 18.9% have tried cigars. This trend is a major cause for concern, particularly as flavoured tobacco products are marketed directly to youth.

The Canadian Cancer Society New Brunswick is calling on the Government of New Brunswick to amend the Tobacco Sales Act to prohibit the sale of all flavoured tobacco products not covered by federal legislation.

For more information about how you can become involved in these issues, please contact 1-800-455-9090 or email ccsnb@nb.cancer.ca.