Anna-Lilja Dawson
CUP Prairies And Northern Bureau Chief

SASKATOON (CUP) —November saw the Ontario and Alberta governments announce new legislation regarding tobacco control while the public in other provinces turned to see what actions their own governments will take.

The debate has been long underway in Alberta’s legislature over a private member’s bill that would outlaw the sale of fruit and candy flavoured tobacco products.

On Nov. 7, the Alberta government announced more tobacco related legislation, Bill C-33, which would introduce new laws banning the use of water pipes in public, smoking in a car with a person under the age of 16 and the individual sale — or sale in small quantities — of cigarillos.

Following suit, on Nov. 13 the Ontario government announced new legislation and amendments to the Smoke-Free Ontario Act that would also ban the sale of all flavoured tobacco products in the province and restrict smoking in public areas such as bar and restaurant patios, near sports fields, playgrounds and on hospital grounds. The legislation would also ban the sale of tobacco products on college and university grounds.

Neither Alberta nor Ontario’s legislation will not affect the sale of menthol products nor will Ontario’s affect twist sticks, lozenges or dissolvable papers if there is no tobacco in the product — nicotine will be allowed.

Both acts intend to reduce the number of youth smokers in the province. Ontario’s doubles the current fines for selling tobacco products to minors.

The exclusion of menthol products by both provinces is a concern for Lung Association of Saskatchewan Health Promotion Coordinator Jill Hubrick who said menthol is just as harmful as other flavours.

“Menthol masks the harshness of the product and it makes it so the airways aren’t as irritated. In some ways it makes it even easier for youth to begin to smoke,” Hubrick said, adding menthol products are among the tobacco products targeting youth.

Tobacco products marketed to youth often have bright wrappers, sweet smells and flavours and are often mistaken for items often found in a backpack like markers, lipgloss and candy, Hubrick said.

“They make it more likely for youth to experiment with the deadly product,” Hubrick said. “We think that if a youth is more likely to experiment that increases the risk of them becoming addicted.

“A lot of people have a misconception that because these flavours and additives hide the harsh stench of the tobacco smoke, smell and even taste, that it is somehow less harmful.”

The Lung Association of Saskatchewan has partnered with the Canadian Cancer Society, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Coalition for Tobacco Reduction to lobby the provincial government on new tobacco legislation for an across-the-board ban on flavored tobacco — including menthol.

The 2010-11 Youth Smoking Survey showed 52 per cent of Canadian youth — ages represented in Grades 9 to 12 — reported using flavoured tobacco products within the last 30 days. Saskatchewan had the highest rate among the provinces surveyed with 54 per cent answering they had used these products within 30 days.

The YSS also showed Saskatchewan has the highest rate of youth smokers with a rate of approximately 28 per cent. Ontario and Manitoba were the only provinces to fall under the national average of youth smokers — 14 per cent — with rates of 11 and 13 per cent respectively.

Despite Saskatchewan’s high incidence of youth smokers, Minister of Health Dustin Duncan said the provincial government is not looking at any new tobacco legislation any time soon.

“We’re seeing other provinces moving in the same direction Saskatchewan has already gone,” Duncan said. “In terms of an outright blanket ban on flavours, we’re waiting to see what the other provinces are going to come up with and then we’ll make some decisions after that.”

Following the tobacco industry finding loopholes in the federal government’s 2010 legislation banning flavoured cigarillos, Duncan said Saskatchewan will wait to see if other provinces can introduce successful tobacco legislation before introducing their own.

The Government of Manitoba will continue to fight the tobacco industry by creating tighter legislation that will not give the industry the same opportunities to slip through loopholes according to a government spokesperson.

“We’ve been focused on reducing tobacco use for everyone in the province and helping to make sure young people don’t start in the first place,” Jodee Mason, Cabinet Communications for the Government of Manitoba, wrote to the Canadian University Press in an email. “We will continue to work with the federal government to deter youth from starting to smoking.”

Keeping in mind the backlash from the general public that the Ontario government is facing regarding the prohibition of flavoured tobacco products, Duncan said he would like to find a way where adults who enjoy these products will not face such limitations.

“We would just want to make sure that we are having a proper balance between encouraging young people not to use tobacco while not necessarily restricting adults from making decisions that they may choose to make on their own,” Duncan said.

Saskatchewan banned smoking in the workplace in 2009 following a ban on smoking in all public places in 2005. Laws restricting smoking on restaurant and bar patios are under municipal jurisdiction.

In 2010, laws prohibiting the sale of cigarillos in packages of less than 20, smoking within doorways, windows and air intakes of public places, the display of tobacco products and signs indoors and outdoors and smoking in vehicles with children were made effective in Saskatchewan.