Twice as many Canadian children are suffering strokes
national study confirms
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
(VANCOUVER) Twice as many children are suffering strokes than was previously believed, according to new findings by a Heart and Stroke Foundation and Canadian Stroke Network researcher who is one of Canada’s leading pediatric neurologists.
“We’re seeing double the numbers of stroke in general,” says Dr. Gabrielle deVeber, who will be chairing a session on Stroke in Children and Young Adults today at the 5th World Stroke Congress in Vancouver, B.C. “That’s for both ischemic stroke (blood flow in the brain interrupted by a clot) and haemorrhagic (bleeding into the brain from a ruptured blood vessel). It’s much more common than was previously recognized.”
Report available at: http://www.canadianstrokenetwork.ca/media/releases/release.jun23.2004a.e.pdf
Veterans deserve a place to smoke -ON
Letter Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Ernest (Smoky) Smith is dead. The last surviving Canadian winner of the prestigious Victoria Cross, dead at 91. Sincere condolences go out to his family and friends.
I wonder if anyone else heard it on the news, but when Mr. Smith received his medal, along with it he got 1,000 cigarettes from a grateful nation. I see in the news reports that he enjoyed a drink of scotch and a cigar, presumably in his local Legion hall where one would think he spent a good deal of time with his comrades.
I wonder if Mr. McGuinty or Mr. Smitherman would have the guts to tell this hero he would no longer be allowed to smoke in his Legion. Of course, Mr. Smith lived in Vancouver, so it wouldn't be their problem. And now that he is gone, they won't face that ugly duty if he did visit Ontario.
Unfortunately, there are still many veterans left in Ontario who will be forced out of their Legion halls because of the McGuinty/Smitherman smoking law. All of our veterans are heroes who do not deserve the slap in the face these two are about to give them. These two cowards shame our heroes.
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read it in English, thank a veteran.
KLAUS WINTER Windsor
Injunction over smoking in Yorkton casino on hold -SK
Karl Kopan Saskatchewan News Network; Regina Leader-Post Wednesday, August 10, 2005
YORKTON -- A court injunction filed by the City of Yorkton against the Sakimay First Nation over smoking at the city's Painted Hand Casino is on hold.
City council is seeking the injunction to force Sakimay, which runs the casino in the city, to adhere to a bylaw that calls for no smoking in all enclosed public places.
The city filed a statement of claim against Sakimay last month. The First Nation owns the property that is leased to the casino.
The matter was heard by Justice Ted Zarzeczny Monday in the Yorkton Court of Queen's Bench.
Wayne Rusnak, lawyer for the city, was to argue the city's side, but no lawyer was present for Sakimay and no materials were on file from a lawyer for the defendants.
Zarzeczny said he had concerns with the city's ability to move forward.
He said a statement of claim is not usually accepted by the court without a statement of damages, the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) was not named as a defendant in the case -- something Zarzeczny felt was necessary; and he said there was a "lack of clarity" between material submitted to the court and the application.
Zarzecny said although a service agreement is in place between the city and Sakimay for the operation of the downtown Yorkton casino, no penalties or enforcement details of the city bylaws are mentioned in the agreement.
He ordered Rusnak to write a letter to SIGA and Sakimay identifying the next court date. He specified the letter should request the two parties have representatives attend. If there is no legal representation, Zarzecny said Sakimay and SIGA should be aware the court could move the application forward without them.
The matter was adjourned to Aug. 22.
Later Monday during a city council meeting, Coun. Chris Wyatt, who supported the city moving forward with the injunction, said breaches of the smoking bylaw have to be enforced to make sure everybody is treated the same.
If the city is successful in court, Wyatt said it will be up to council to decide whether to discontinue water, sewer and other city services to the casino.
http://www.smokersclubinc.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1365
Patio smoking ban should be automatic step -BC
Vancouver Province Thursday, August 11, 2005
After moving back to Vancouver from Calgary, I find the city now lags behind the Prairies, which has a higher smoking rate.
The whole point of bringing in the smoking ban was to protect the public, especially children, from the well-documented effects of second-hand smoke.
I don't understand why it should even be an issue to extend the ban, especially when it comes to restaurant patios.
The patio is a part of the restaurant and should automatically be included in the ban.
The latest statistics show only about 15 per cent of Vancouverites smoke.
With such a clear majority of non-smokers in this city, why should we and our families not be able to enjoy dining outside on a restaurant patio without breathing in someone else's smoke?
Leanne Pidde, Surrey
Time to butt out on patios
By David Weir Aug 10 2005
So far it's only an idea, but it's one that I believe deserves some serious consideration
This week, we learned the days of smokers enjoying a few puffs on restaurant and bar patios may be numbered because the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority is considering if there should be greater limits on smoking in the City of Vancouver
Among the ideas being tossed around is banning smoking on restaurant and bar patios. Also on the table is whether to restrict smoking near building entrances and whether to do away with indoor smoking rooms all together. An increase in the numbers of complaints about outdoor smoking is what's spurring the latest debate about where smokers can and can't smoke
I agree with why non-smokers want to further restrict where smokers can light up. A couple of weeks ago, I was out to dinner with my fiancee at a restaurant on Sixth Street in New Westminster. It was a sunny evening, so we decided to sit on the patio
Our food arrived just as the people at the next table were finishing theirs. It was then that all four of them lit up cigarettes
There was hardly a breeze that evening, but what wind there was blew the cigarette smoke across our table. Liz took two or three bites of her pasta before pushing it away. She said she lost her appetite because of the smoke. I fared a little better, but the meal didn't taste quite as good as it did the last time we ate there
For us, smoking on the patio spoiled an otherwise nice meal out. And that's part of the reason why so many non-smokers want more places where people have to butt out
There's also the health risks associated with second-hand smoke, so anything we can do to further reduce our exposure to unwanted second hand smoke is a good thing. Now many smokers will say we could have asked to sit somewhere else if the smoke was bothering us. After all, smokers will say, they've been relegated to the patios and under building awnings because they can no longer smoke inside
True enough, they have been outcast in our search for clean air. But does that mean that non-smokers should not be allowed to enjoy a meal on a patio without being forced to breathe in second-hand smoke
There's many places, including a coffee shop that I frequent, where the patio has been taken over by smokers, forcing non-smokers to decide between sitting inside on a sunny day or put up with the smoke. And that's a decision that I don't feel I should be forced to make
This idea of banning smoking on patios is not sitting well with some restaurant owners who worry their businesses will suffer if they are forced to further limit where customers can smoke. They used the same argument before the interior smoking ban was brought in a few years, and so far I've yet to hear complaints of declining profits linked to that ban
So I have a hard time believing that smokers will stop going to restaurants if a total ban is brought in. If anything, they might attract more non-smokers if they know they can enjoy a smoke-free meal on the patio
Plus, if the ban is put in region-wide - not just in Vancouver - it will be a level playing field for all restaurants
Sadly, these ideas are only being considered by Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. The Fraser Health Authority, which runs from Burnaby to Boston Bar, says it's not looking at additional bans and is leaving it up to individual municipalities to consider changing the rules
But I think it's time we take another look at where smoking is and isn't acceptable, not only in Vancouver, but the Lower Mainland
http://www.burnabynewsleader.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=41&cat=48&id=473598&more=
Smoking rate down, restrictions cited
Dan Dugas Canadian Press Thursday, August 11, 2005
OTTAWA -- The smoking rate in Canada has dropped to 20 per cent, a nice round number that has some observers singing the praises of higher tobacco taxes, health warnings and laws to restrict where people can light up.
But the health minister and the Canadian Cancer Society said that despite the good news, including a big drop in the number of young women smoking, much remains to be done to win the battle of the butt.
The Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey from Statistics Canada found that 20 per cent of people 15 or older were still puffing last year, compared to 21 per cent in 2003 and 24 per cent in 2000.
Dr. Murray Kaiserman, director of research, surveillance and evaluation at the agency, said the decline is "exciting news" given how things stood four years ago.
"I would say it's quite a quick drop. At that time, we were probably faced with a resistant core of smokers, we didn't have many of the policies we have in place today. And we predicted taking 10 years to reach this level."
Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh said he was pleased to see the smoking rate edge downward.
"Nevertheless, the battle is not won yet," he said in a statement. "We must continue to work to reduce rates among high-risk groups, including young adults and aboriginal groups."
One way to do that is to raise tobacco taxes further, said Rob Cunningham of the Canadian Cancer Society.
"These new reductions in smoking in Canada are very encouraging, we've seen decreases among all segments of the population, but there's a lot we have to do. We need to have higher tobacco taxes, especially in the high population provinces of Ontario and Quebec and banning misleading terms such as light and mild."
He suggested that taxes should rise by at least $10 per carton of 200 cigarettes to counter price cuts by manufacturers for their so-called discount brands.
The Ontario and Quebec governments have kept their taxes lower relative to other provinces largely to avoid a resurgence of the rampant smuggling seen in the 1990s, when about 30 per cent of the population smoked.
According to the survey released Thursday, about 5.1 million Canadians over age 15 smoked in 2004. However, smokers said they were puffing fewer smokes -- an average of 15 a day.
Health Canada says smoking is the most preventable cause of disease and early death in this country, with more than 45,000 people estimated to die prematurely this year in Canada due to tobacco use.
About 22 per cent of men were smokers, compared with 17 per cent of women.
Fewer young women smoked last year, but the habit was harder to kick for young men, Statistics Canada said.
Among women aged 20 to 24, the percentage of smokers dropped sharply, to 25 per cent last year compared with 30 per cent in 2003.
The smoking rate for men in the age group remained steady at about 31 per cent.
Among teens aged 15 to 19, the smoking rate was 18 per cent, with no difference between girls and boys.
While British Columbia stood out with the lowest level of smoking at 15 per cent, the rest of the country showed generally uniform rates of smoking ranging from 19 per cent to 24 per cent.
The survey also found that about half of smokers tried to kick the habit last year.
Francis Thompson, policy analyst with the Non-Smokers' Rights Association, attributes the decline in the overall smoking rate to the policies of various governments.
"We've seen large increases in tobacco taxes, we've seen big new health warnings on cigarette packs ... and most recently we've seen a series of provincial laws on smoking in workplaces, in particular in bars and restaurants that have been really very good."
There have also been restrictions on promotions and the display of cigarette packs at point of sale in some areas, he noted.
Over the course of a year, the tobacco use monitoring survey collected data over the telephone from more than 20,000 respondents.
Cunningham again called on the federal government to ban the terms light and mild, saying they lull smokers into the mistaken belief that the products are somehow less harmful.
The government said it would ban the terms more than four years ago but continues to study the issue
http://www.canada.com/fortstjohn/story.html?id=eeeb7e89-915f-4a64-931e-1517d04a198b
Smoking rate down, but not for young men
Dan Dugas Canadian Press Thursday, August 11, 2005
OTTAWA -- The smoking rate in Canada has dropped to 20 per cent, a nice round number that has some observers singing the praises of higher tobacco taxes, health warnings and laws to restrict where people can light up.
But the health minister and the Canadian Cancer Society said that despite the good news, including a big drop in the number of young women smoking, much remains to be done to win the battle of the butt.
The Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey from Statistics Canada found that 20 per cent of people 15 or older were still puffing last year, compared to 21 per cent in 2003 and 24 per cent in 2000.
Dr. Murray Kaiserman, director of research, surveillance and evaluation at the agency, said the decline is "exciting news" given how things stood four years ago.
"I would say it's quite a quick drop. At that time, we were probably faced with a resistant core of smokers, we didn't have many of the policies we have in place today. And we predicted taking 10 years to reach this level."
Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh said he was pleased to see the smoking rate edge downward.
"Nevertheless, the battle is not won yet," he said in a statement. "We must continue to work to reduce rates among high-risk groups, including young adults and aboriginal groups."
One way to do that is to raise tobacco taxes further, said Rob Cunningham of the Canadian Cancer Society.
"These new reductions in smoking in Canada are very encouraging, we've seen decreases among all segments of the population, but there's a lot we have to do. We need to have higher tobacco taxes, especially in the high population provinces of Ontario and Quebec and banning misleading terms such as light and mild."
He suggested that taxes should rise by at least $10 per carton of 200 cigarettes to counter price cuts by manufacturers for their so-called discount brands.
The Ontario and Quebec governments have kept their taxes lower relative to other provinces largely to avoid a resurgence of the rampant smuggling seen in the 1990s, when about 30 per cent of the population smoked.
According to the survey released Thursday, about 5.1 million Canadians over age 15 smoked in 2004. However, smokers said they were puffing fewer smokes -- an average of 15 a day.
Health Canada says smoking is the most preventable cause of disease and early death in this country, with more than 45,000 people estimated to die prematurely this year in Canada due to tobacco use.
About 22 per cent of men were smokers, compared with 17 per cent of women.
Fewer young women smoked last year, but the habit was harder to kick for young men, Statistics Canada said.
Among women aged 20 to 24, the percentage of smokers dropped sharply, to 25 per cent last year compared with 30 per cent in 2003.
The smoking rate for men in the age group remained steady at about 31 per cent.
Among teens aged 15 to 19, the smoking rate was 18 per cent, with no difference between girls and boys.
While British Columbia stood out with the lowest level of smoking at 15 per cent, the rest of the country showed generally uniform rates of smoking ranging from 19 per cent to 24 per cent.
The survey also found that about half of smokers tried to kick the habit last year.
Francis Thompson, policy analyst with the Non-Smokers' Rights Association, attributes the decline in the overall smoking rate to the policies of various governments.
"We've seen large increases in tobacco taxes, we've seen big new health warnings on cigarette packs ... and most recently we've seen a series of provincial laws on smoking in workplaces, in particular in bars and restaurants that have been really very good."
There have also been restrictions on promotions and the display of cigarette packs at point of sale in some areas, he noted.
Over the course of a year, the tobacco use monitoring survey collected data over the telephone from more than 20,000 respondents.
Cunningham again called on the federal government to ban the terms light and mild, saying they lull smokers into the mistaken belief that the products are somehow less harmful.
The government said it would ban the terms more than four years ago but continues to study the issue.
http://www.canada.com/search/story.html?id=8b9356e2-5fc6-44fa-8475-5ed609a4e04e
Quebec's smoking rate slides
CBC News Last updated Aug 11 2005 04:25 PM EDT
Quebec's smoking rate is in steady decline, according to Statistics Canada.
For decades, Quebec has been known as a haven for smokers. Yet even here, smoking rates have been in steady decline.
"For a province like quebec which always had the highest smoking rate, they don't even rank in the top two now," Dr. Murray Kaiserman is the head of research for Health Canada's Tobacco Control Program. "So in other words, smoking rates in Canada are pretty much uniform across the country."
The uniformity suggests all provinces are now collectively working to eliminate smoking, Kaiserman figures.
Fewer women smoking
There was also a significant drop in the number of young women smoking in Canada in 2004, Statistics Canada said Thursday.
In its Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey, the agency said 25 per cent of women aged 20 to 24 smoked in 2004, down from 30 per cent just one year earlier.
However, here was no change for young men. The study found that 31 per cent of men aged 20 to 24 continued to smoke in 2004, the same rate as the year before.
5.1 million smokers
Overall, an estimated 5.1 million Canadians were smokers in 2004. That figure represented 20 per cent Canada's population aged 15 and older.
That 20 per cent accounted for people who either lit up occasionally, or on a daily basis.
StatsCan says those who smoked daily in 2004, on average, went through 15 cigarettes a day.
The data were gathered between February and December of 2004.
Overall, the agency says slightly more men than women smoked that year — about 22 per cent of men were smokers compared with 17 per cent of women.
Lowest in British Columbia
British Columbia, had the lowest overall rate of smokers at just 15 per cent.
The rates of smoking in all the other provinces and territories generally ranged between 19 and 24 per cent.
Also that year, half of all those people who said they smoked had actually tried to quit in the past year.
In terms of Canadian teenagers between 15 and 19 years of age, 18 per cent smoked. There was no difference between young men and young women.
Overall in 2004, there was a small decline in the prevalence of smoking.
Even though the change was not statistically significant, it does confirm a downward trend in Canadian smoking habits, the agency says.
Short end of the cigarette
Quebec tobacco farmers have been paying the price for the drop in Quebec smoking rates.
The numbers mean bad business for Sylvain Ethier, a tobacco farmer in the Mauricie region.
Tobacco could be grown profitably in a small space, Ethier says. However, he was forced to abandon the lucrative crop after demand plummeted, and his biggest buyers stopped buying.
The provincial government bought up his specialized tobacco-harvesting equipment. It was the government's attempt to ease the transition from tobacco to another crop.
It was the least Quebec could do after robbing him of his business in the first place, he complains.
The provincial government's campaign to stop smoking was directly responsible for the cut in production, and consumption of tobacco, Ethier claims.
Now, Ethier says he's trying to grow small berries. But he says they'll never be as profitable as tobacco.
http://montreal.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=qc-smoke20050811
Methamphetamine addiction spreading
CTV.ca News Staff
Methamphetamine is not new. Known in the 60s as "speed", it was a common street drug that was usually taken in pill form. But it lost popularity in the 70s and 80s as cocaine became the drug of choice.
In the 1990s, a smokable crystal form was created that surfaced in California and soon spread. A favourite of the rave scene and the gay nightclub culture, crystal meth became known as crank, Tina or by dozens of other names.
Remarkably cheap and easy to make, its popularity appears to be spreading to rural communities with the help of outlaw motorcycle gangs, and organized crime groups.
What is it?
Methamphetamine is a chemical variant of amphetamine but offers much more powerful effects. It can be snorted, smoked, injected, or swallowed and offers a high that lasts eight hours or more.
"The effects in taking it last much, much longer than cocaine," Det. Darcy Strant of the Edmonton Drug Unit recently recently told CTV's Canada AM.
"Cocaine, if you're smoking it, can be a 20-minute, 40-minute high. With methamphetamine, it's anywhere between a four to 16-hour high."
Meth works by releasing high levels of dopamine in the brain, a neurotransmitter that creates a sense of pleasure. Users describe a feeling of euphoria from the drug and a sudden increase in energy.
One Regina user named "Dave" told CTV's Jill Macyshon last spring "It felt like the best feeling I've felt in my entire life."
"It's like your mind's going 1,000 miles faster than it's supposed to," another meth ex-user named Jim told CTV's Todd van der Heyden.
But it is also highly-addictive and tolerance increases with every dose, meaning that users need more of it to get the same high.
"It hooks you pretty quick, I guess. I didn't like doing it but I kept going out and doing it," "Jim" says.
Meth impairs sleep and leaves users with feelings of irritability and paranoia. Users on a binge will often go days without eating or sleeping, leading to the extreme weight loss that characterizes so many users, and often slipping into psychosis.
An addict going through meth withdrawal will experience shaking, nausea and hyperventilating. Over the long term, the drug will destroy nerve cells, resulting in slower motor functions and impaired memory.
Made from cold medicines
Known as "the poor man's cocaine," a "point" of meth -- meaning one-tenth of a gram -- costs a mere $5 to $10 and can last all day – a key reason for its popularity.
It's also remarkably easy to make. Its main ingredient –pseudoephedrine -- can be found in cold medicines in any drug store.
The pseudoephedrine is extracted by boiling down the medicines and then adding readily available chemicals to turn the substance into meth. Those chemicals include red phosphorus (used to make safety matches), ammonia, paint thinner, ether, and lithium from batteries.
But meth labs are also highly dangerous, creating deadly fumes that can cause massive explosions. After a home-based meth lab is raided, the houses is often filled with chemical residues and has to be quarantined or razed.
Problem spreading west to east
The growing problem of home-based meth labs is particularly bad in British Columbia. There, meth addiction is ravaging Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and trickling into the suburbs and the interior.
B.C. drug treatment centres say that crystal meth addiction is now the most often cited addiction by incoming patients.
Alberta noticed such a problem with meth addiction among its youth, it recently passed a law giving parents the power to force their drug-addicted teenaged children into detox. Red Deer North MLA Mary Anne Jablonski introduced the private member's bill after hearing the horror stories of parents with crystal meth-addicted children.
Saskatchewan also has a crystal meth problem, with at least 10 fatal overdoses this year in Saskatoon alone.
And experts say the problem is moving east, with drug treatment centres in Toronto and Montreal noticing a recent surge in cases.
Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert stresses that the meth problem is "not just a Western problem."
"While we have a higher number of incidents in Western Canada, you can be sure -- no matter where we live in Canada -- unless we take the actions we're taking now you will see this become a nationwide issue."
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1123782275367_119191475
Smoking rate drops to 20 per cent, experts cite high tobacco taxes, warnings
Dan Dugas Canadian Press Thursday, August 11, 2005
OTTAWA (CP) - The smoking rate in Canada has dropped to 20 per cent, a nice round number that has some observers singing the praises of higher tobacco taxes, health warnings and laws to restrict where people can light up.
But the health minister and the Canadian Cancer Society said that despite the good news, including a big drop in the number of young women smoking, much remains to be done to win the battle of the butt.
The Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey from Statistics Canada found that 20 per cent of people 15 or older were still puffing last year, compared to 21 per cent in 2003 and 24 per cent in 2000.
Dr. Murray Kaiserman, director of research, surveillance and evaluation at the agency, said the decline is "exciting news" given how things stood four years ago.
"I would say it's quite a quick drop. At that time, we were probably faced with a resistant core of smokers, we didn't have many of the policies we have in place today. And we predicted taking 10 years to reach this level."
Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh said he was pleased to see the smoking rate edge downward.
"Nevertheless, the battle is not won yet," he said in a statement. "We must continue to work to reduce rates among high-risk groups, including young adults and aboriginal groups."
One way to do that is to raise tobacco taxes further, said Rob Cunningham of the Canadian Cancer Society.
"These new reductions in smoking in Canada are very encouraging, we've seen decreases among all segments of the population, but there's a lot we have to do. We need to have higher tobacco taxes, especially in the high population provinces of Ontario and Quebec and banning misleading terms such as light and mild."
He suggested that taxes should rise by at least $10 per carton of 200 cigarettes to counter price cuts by manufacturers for their so-called discount brands.
The Ontario and Quebec governments have kept their taxes lower relative to other provinces largely to avoid a resurgence of the rampant smuggling seen in the 1990s, when about 30 per cent of the population smoked.
According to the survey released Thursday, about 5.1 million Canadians over age 15 smoked in 2004. However, smokers said they were puffing fewer smokes - an average of 15 a day.
Health Canada says smoking is the most preventable cause of disease and early death in this country, with more than 45,000 people estimated to die prematurely this year in Canada due to tobacco use.
About 22 per cent of men were smokers, compared with 17 per cent of women.
Fewer young women smoked last year, but the habit was harder to kick for young men, Statistics Canada said.
Among women aged 20 to 24, the percentage of smokers dropped sharply, to 25 per cent last year compared with 30 per cent in 2003.
The smoking rate for men in the age group remained steady at about 31 per cent.
Among teens aged 15 to 19, the smoking rate was 18 per cent, with no difference between girls and boys.
While British Columbia stood out with the lowest level of smoking at 15 per cent, the rest of the country showed generally uniform rates of smoking ranging from 19 per cent to 24 per cent.
The survey also found that about half of smokers tried to kick the habit last year.
Francis Thompson, policy analyst with the Non-Smokers' Rights Association, attributes the decline in the overall smoking rate to the policies of various governments.
"We've seen large increases in tobacco taxes, we've seen big new health warnings on cigarette packs ... and most recently we've seen a series of provincial laws on smoking in workplaces, in particular in bars and restaurants that have been really very good."
There have also been restrictions on promotions and the display of cigarette packs at point of sale in some areas, he noted.
Over the course of a year, the tobacco use monitoring survey collected data over the telephone from more than 20,000 respondents.
Cunningham again called on the federal government to ban the terms light and mild, saying they lull smokers into the mistaken belief that the products are somehow less harmful.
The government said it would ban the terms more than four years ago but continues to study the issue.
http://www.canada.com/health/story.html?id=50af74ae-3441-43e9-b2ce-86e4342ca84b
Young smokers still lighting up -NS
CBC News Last updated Aug 11 2005 02:37 PM ADT
Young adults continue to make up the biggest group of smokers in the province.
The overall smoking rate for Nova Scotia was 20 per cent in 2004, according to the latest results from the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey.
But the rate for young smokers between the ages of 20 and 24 was 33 per cent.
HEALTH CANADA: 2004 tobacco use survey
Maureen Summers, executive director of the Nova Scotia division of the Canadian Cancer Society, said young people are the most vulnerable to sophisticated cigarette marketing schemes.
"One of the areas that we're looking for further work in is for the province to adopt legislation to prohibit all tobacco product promotion at the point of sale," she said.
This could include removing the wall of cigarettes often found behind counters at convenience stores and gas stations, Summers said.
Smoking rates in Nova Scotia are dropping.
In 2000, the rate for all smokers was 30 per cent, while the rate for 20 to 24 year olds was about 36 per cent.
Health Promotion Minister Rodney MacDonald said it's "great news" that 78,000 smokers in Nova Scotia have quit in that period, and he credits the government's tobacco control strategy.
But he said he's confident more people will butt out when the province bans smoking in all public places in 2006.
http://novascotia.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=ns-smoking-rates20050811
Patios latest target for anti-smoking crusade -BC
By Steven Addison Staff Reporter Aug 09 2005
White Rock could be the next municipality to ban smoking on restaurant patios.
The City of Vancouver is mulling the idea, due to an increase in complaints about second-hand smoke. Now White Rock Mayor Judy Forster says it's worth looking at.
"We want to promote a healthier environment," Forster said.
"I really think it's something we should look into."
The mayor expects to take the issue to the city's social planning committee, a group of volunteers that provides advice to council on issues such as health.
White Rock and Vancouver were the first to ban smoking indoors in public buildings and restaurants, in 1997, and although the move was panned by smokers and restaurateurs alike, it's proven popular in the long-run.
Bill Lawrence, who owns Sandpiper Pub on East Beach, supported that ban. But he thinks prohibiting smoking on outside decks is a bad idea.
"To go so far as to ban it on outdoor patios...why not ban it on the Promenade? Why not ban it on the sidewalk?"
"The patio is a nice place for smokers, as well as non-smokers."
Lawrence said it is important to accommodate smokers, especially with the influx of visitors anticipated around the 2010 Games.
"We're going to be getting people from all nationalities and all nations," he said.
"In a lot of those nations, people still love to smoke."
Besides, smoke tends to dissipate quickly on patios, lessening health impacts for non-smokers.
Still, Forster said it remains an irritant for non-smokers.
"One of the things that a lot of restaurants have is those garage doors," the mayor said.
"(Smokers) will be out on the deck and the breeze blows the smoke back into the restaurant."
Smokers surveyed on Marine Drive patios Monday said they should be able to puff outside.
"Smoking on a patio is fine. Indoors it's not," Lauren Moreton said, sitting outside Dock's Fish and Chips.
"I'd be a little mad (if it was banned)."
Moreton is vacationing from Calgary with her mother, Donna. In Calgary smoking is outlawed on restaurant patios.
"It's not necessarily a bad thing, because we know we shouldn't be doing it," Donna Moreton said, adding they didn't expect to be allowed to smoke when they sat down for lunch in White Rock.
"Were weren't going to do it, but (the waitress) came over and offered an ashtray."
Outside Nebutaya Japanese Restaurant, Langley resident Natalie Talson and Ottawa's Kara Strang said they wouldn't have a problem butting out if forced to.
"If it was law, I'd agree with it," said Talson, who is uncomfortable smoking in public.
"I try not to...it's totally not the political norm."
http://www.peacearchnews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=44&cat=23&id=473222&more=
Smoking may not have killed Jennings -ON
Letter August 11, 2005
Today's medical knowledge does not allow any human to identify smoking, one of the over forty independent risk factors , as the sole cause of Peter Jennings' lung cancer. Nor are our medical experts able to isolate one of the many largely genetic causes of Peter Gzowski's chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
To do so, as tobacco control extremist Stan Shatenstein has done, is simply means of spreading more anti-tobacco falsehoods.
N.S. Liberals call for public smoking ban -NS
Broadcast News Friday, August 12, 2005
HALIFAX -- Nova Scotia Liberals say thousands of young people have become needlessly addicted to cigarettes because there has been no province-wide public smoking ban.
Health critic Dave Wilson was reacting to news yesterday that the province is having a tough time convincing young people to quit smoking.
The latest statistics show that 33 per cent of young people between the ages of 20 and 24 continued to light up last year.
That's down only slightly from 2003 and still way above the provincial average.
Health Promotion Minister Rodney MacDonald says the numbers should start to go down once a full-fledged smoking ban is in place next year.
Two years ago, the province instituted a partial ban.
Wilson says, if the minister believes a full ban would be effective, he can't understand why it wasn't implemented in the first place.
http://www.canada.com/national/story.html?id=81a5da96-cdab-44b4-ba4b-0d123377a8aa
Law should be all for one or none for all -SK
Lloydminster Meridian Booster Friday August 12, 2005
No one is going to debate the health effects of smoking or second-hand smoke. No one can argue that it makes you healthier – although some would argue short-term happiness – but it’s not as though smoking is without its perks. Indirectly, at least.
Since the Saskatchewan government unveiled its ambitious anti-smoking legislation this past January, the enforcement of the ban has been aggressive and many small-town businesses have been left with major fines for what many would consider a minor infraction. Small bars and restaurants have already felt the pinch and hotel owners across the province are fighting the province tooth-and-nail.
But all the time there have been those in the background slowly suffering from this legislation – the charities.
Many local charities in Lloydminster alone are feeling the pinch after a dramatic decline in bingo revenues alone have seriously cut back the funds flowing to charities.
Now Saskatchewan’s First Nations are furthering themselves once again in the fight to maintain smoking status in their casinos and similar facilities saying that the smoking ban in bingo halls would take too much money from social agencies on reserves that depend on them for funding. And they have allowed it once again to stem the tide of lost revenues during a three-month trial period.
Well, finally those on both sides of this dispute can agree on one thing – the Saskatchewan government obviously didn’t think this thing completely through.
This isn’t an issue of freedom of choice, or even health concerns. The issue at hand appears to be a short-sighted plan by a government that wanted to win some quick brownie points. In the effort to build healthier communities, this move has left many social agencies ailing.
http://www.meridianbooster.com/index.php?id=525
Patio smoking ban is a Vancouver idea
Wednesday, Aug 10, 2005
Smokers who enjoy a puff on the patios of restaurants and bars aren't yet in the crosshairs of municipalities outside Vancouver
Fraser Health Authority officials say neither they nor local cities have any plans to consider tougher restrictions -or a ban -on smoking on outdoor commercial patios
"We're not aware of any municipality anywhere in the Fraser Health Region pursuing the same track as Vancouver," said FHA spokesman Don MacLachlan
A report outlining possible bans or restrictions on outdoor smoking is being prepared by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and is slated to come before Vancouver city council in September, said VCHA spokesman Clay Adams
"What happens will be purely up to the city itself," he said. "There's speculation that with municipal elections in September the report may not see the light of day in terms of council discussion until the new year.
It could extend smoking restrictions within the City of Vancouver to cover bus shelters, building entry ways, outdoor sports venues and other areas where people congregate outside
Each city council has local control over the issue, he said. "There is no province-wide approach," Adams said. "It is a municipal-by-municipal approach."
http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=community/burnaby&articleID=2003035
Veterans have earned right to smoke at legion
Letter Friday, August 12, 2005
As a democratic society, we are entitled to our opinions. Well, this is my opinion.
I have been reading in The Star about Dalton McGuinty's report that as of June 1, 2006, Ontario becomes smoke-free. This includes Casino Windsor and also our legions.
What have I done without Mr. McGuinty for over 67 years? I have a university degree that I worked very hard to obtain, while I raised my children. Because of Dalton McGuinty's revelation that we, the Ontario people, need to be a smoke-free province, I and many like me are brainless.
Wow, isn't Dalton a great man to let me know what little brains we Ontarians have? I would like to tell him myself. I have a brain, and like thousands of my neighbours, we are very intelligent people.
If these non-smokers don't like us smoking, tough. We know what we are doing to our bodies, but that is our choice, not these bureaucrats in Toronto nor those among us who have a right to upset our lifestyle.
If you don't like smoke, people have a right not to go into establishments where smoking is allowed. I have noticed many signs on businesses' doors -- "smoking allowed" or "non-smoking establishment" -- so what is the problem with these people? I guess they just want everything their way. Shame on you.
As for our legions: These men made this country safe for you and me. I don't know where you got the survey that most veterans don't smoke.
I know a lot of veterans and when I see them, they have cigarettes or cigars in their mouths, maybe not 100 per cent of them, but at least 45 to 50 per cent. So don't tell me that all veterans don't smoke. Shame on you.
Can the Ontario government match the monies given to this community from Casino Windsor?
Can this government tell the servicemen who came home, you can have your legions but let us catch you smoking in them, and you will be fined and God only knows what else?
PHYLLIS GATES Windsor
Let's penalize businesses that want to allow smoking -AB
Aug 12 2005
Freedom of choice is great and people should be able to choose whether or not to smoke. That choice, however, should not affect anyone else - physically or financially.
Businesses that want to choose not to discourage smoking are indirectly encouraging it and their argument in defence of this action encompasses the possible loss of profits.
The Central Alberta Businesses for Choice group wants Red Deer City Hall to rescind the recent choice to go to a gold-standard smoking bylaw in June 2006.
That bylaw will ban smoking in all public buildings and areas.
That would mean that no person, customer or employee, young or old, would be exposed to second-hand smoke while in public. If this lobby group is successful in its efforts, it will affect all of us physically and financially.
I believe that if the bylaw is nixed, then businesses who permit smoking should have to share the cost created by their actions.
There is no argument that smoking is unhealthy. Smoking causes illnesses that cost a lot of money to treat.
Our Alberta health care system pays for these costs. The premiums that we pay don't even come close to paying for the actual cost to run the system.
Where does the rest of the money come from? Our taxes! That means you and me!
I know that no one chooses to get sick, and I believe we should all be eligible for full free public health care (paid for through a fair tax system).
Currently, businesses are making profits and indirectly, by their own admission, part of those profits results from letting smokers light up in their establishments. Employees and patrons (willingly or not) are being exposed to second-hand smoke, which will likely cause some smoking-related illnesses.
The health care system will take dollars from our taxes to pay these costs.
Why should the full cost be placed on our taxes?
Should not the businesses that are profiting from smoking also have to allocate a portion of their profits to help pay these medical costs?
How would you measure such a cost? It would be impossible to come up with an exact figure based on patrons of a business, but numbers of employees are easily measured.
Maybe a cost every year of $500 per employee should be paid directly to Alberta health care. Maybe $1,000. The number could be determined later.
Freedom of choice is great and I would like to choose not to pay as much in taxes.
If businesses that allowed smoking in their establishments paid some of the health care costs that they are helping create, maybe my choice to have my taxes reduced would be realized too!
Dieter Brandt
Red Deer
http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/
There's No Smoking but I'm still Fuming
I think the city of St. Albert has made a colossal blunder with its much too harsh smoking bylaw. All one has to do is drop in to any local watering hole and listen to the tales of woe.
Servers are claiming severe financial distress as tips have dried up. Add to that the stress of small female servers being forced to reprimand large male patrons who light up anyway with their "go to hell attitude" towards those who condone the smoking bylaw.
Then add to that the stress on bar owners who face heavy fines if someone smokes in their establishment, even though they try to stop them. One local bar owner told me they have closed early on more than one weekend night due to lack of customers with entertainment playing to two or three clients.
Did You Ever Wonder - Why it is illegal to put money in other people's parking meters?
I hear also from bar owners, bartenders and servers that the "regulars" have disappeared which makes the problem all the more devastating.
Regulars, for the uninformed are those customers that visit their local watering holes every day for a drink or two. They are the life blood of any bar as it is they who pay the rent and the light and heat bills. The weekend crowds are the gravy.
And why have the "regulars" disappeared? Simple. 90 per cent of them smoke. And where have they gone?
I see many of those regulars out in their back yards enjoying a beer and cigarette. Since the city has now forced them to go outside of any establishment to have that smoke, they choose to be outside at their own homes. The upshot of this of course is that local liquor stores are doing well, but hundreds of bar staff are hurting needlessly.
Only In Canada - do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
I think it is becoming quite clear that all those holier-than- thou non smokers who insisted this council ruin local business, never had any intention of going out to a bar. They simply were on a power trip to impose their will on the patrons of bars so that if they chose to come out to a bar a couple of times a year it would suit them just fine.
They better hurry and get out to their favourite bar though. It may be closed soon if the current trend keeps up. While on holidays in Saskatchewan, I spoke with one hotel owner there who is a member of their provincial executive. He told me that 20 hotels have closed in rural Saskatchewan directly as a result of the province wide smoking ban.That is 20 family owned businesses lost to small towns. How many St. Albert loses is yet to be determined. Challenges under the constitution are being mounted again smoking laws everywhere. Many readers tell me they hope bars win and preserve the word "choice" once and for all.
Mosquito control - This is going to floor you, but one SCN reader tells me the best insect repellent they've found, is Vicks VapoRub. I haven't tried it yet, but hey, if the skeeters are eating you alive, most people will try anything.
I hear conversations going around the city about a certain letter to the editor written by a local woman. Although I did not see it as it appeared while I was away, it seems to have caused quite a stir around St. Albert.
I'm told the letter insinuated that the more money you have, the better class of person you become. From what I hear around town, residents take exception to that kind of labelling, but some groups continue to perpetuate the illusion.
Take the Arts and Heritage Foundation for example, who according to a SCN reader are back on their "elitist" kick and sent along the following item.
"Don, this might make an interesting comment for your column to interpret since there was such a lovely letter from the AHF to thank the other paper last week.
" From the AHF "Bravo!" newsletter: Quote: "The Arts and Heritage Foundation of St. Albert (AHF) is very pleased to announce the appointment of St. Albert Gazette Publisher and Rotary Club Member Duff Jamison to our esteemed Board of Trustees.", end quote."
Let me be the first to congratulate Mr.Jamison on his appointment. I have known Duff for many years and he is a fine addition to the board and a hard worker for St.Albert.
But having said that, the announcement author at AHF continues to foster the "elitist" label most local residents give them by the use of one word in that announcement. The operative word being "esteemed".
When will they get it that no one considers them to be "esteemed"? They are simply nice local residents who volunteer their time for a good cause.
If you follow the elitist logic of the AHF, every minor sports coach in the city is "esteemed".
Last time I called one of those guys that, well, you don't want to know what they said. And finally, this from one local Legion member who told me. "You know, it was the daytime crowd that kept our legion going. But our smoking bylaw has changed all that. No one goes there now, they sit at home and smoke. Now they don't even open the bar until 2:00 p.m. and the rumour is that they might not even open if the guys keep staying away."
Seems to me the loss of a legion branch would be a disaster. Think of all the good work they do for charity. My bet is that this council will be squirming soon as pressure mounts to undo this tragedy called the smoking bylaw. The Score: Smoking Bylaw 1 Bingo Halls 0 From two different servers: tips before bylaw average daytime shift: $80 to $110. After bylaw $5 to $20. Jobs lost to date: unknown.
A ROSE to every server in the city who are struggling to make a living in the face of the draconian smoking bylaw.
A WHINE to repressive bylaws applied by council at the urging of pressure groups.
http://saintcitynews.advancedpublishing.com/
Smoking in decline
Editorial -Saturday, August 13th, 2005
ABOUT 20 per cent of Canadians over the age of 15 are smokers today compared to perhaps 31 per cent 10 years ago. This is a large change in a deeply ingrained habit. Further progress in reducing smoking may be difficult, however, because those most likely to quit have already done so. Anti-smoking efforts are poorly tailored to the poor people, people of low education and Indian reserve residents among whom smoking is still common.
Statistics Canada released this week the results of its Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey for 2004 showing a drop in Canada-wide smoking prevalence, so small a drop, the agency said, that it was not statistically significant. Smoking prevalence may have dropped to 20 per cent from the previous year's 21 per cent -- or there may have just been a sampling error in the survey. The survey has been finding pretty steady declines since 1994 in step with increasing taxes, intensified health warnings and the spread of smoking bans in restaurants and other public places. More men than women smoked.
A similar pattern and similar results are found in the United States, where the Centres for Disease Control keeps track of smoking prevalence. The U.S. report for 2003, published in May, found that 21.6 per cent of adults (more men than women) were smokers, down from 22.8 per cent two years earlier. When the 2004 U.S. results are published, they could be expected to show a rate around 21 per cent, a point above Canada's.
The U.S. survey, however, reports some details not covered in the corresponding Canadian report. In the U.S., smoking is much more prevalent among Native Americans (39.7 per cent), people below the poverty line (30.5 per cent) and people without university education (44.4 per cent). Canada's smoking survey does not report ethnicity, income and education of smokers, but ordinary observation suggests that similar results would be found here.
In Manitoba, the provincial government has banned smoking in all public places but it exempts Indian reserves on the grounds that the province has no authority to regulate smoking on reserves. This more or less ensures that reserve residents will continue to smoke in large numbers. People of low income and people of low education have proven more resistant than others to anti-smoking campaigns in the U.S. and they may remain so in Canada.
A first step for Canada would be to identify, in the way the CDC does, the subpopulations in which smoking remains common. The 2004 survey result showing a drop that was too small to be statistically significant suggests that the years of rapid decline in smoking may be coming to an end. Further progress along that line may require more careful research and better knowledge of the smokers.
The deadly impact of smoking
Letter August 13, 2005
More must be done to publicize the millions who die each year
Could there have been an odder couple of famous Canadians than Peter Jennings and Peter Gzowski?
One was urbane and cool, seemingly born to stare into the camera and seduce viewers. The other was a rumpled suit of a man, a face made for radio, yet bright, gregarious and inviting.
One found fame and fortune in the U.S., the other stayed home and developed a cult following here.
Aside from their proudly Canadian roots and their first name, Jennings and Gzowski shared a dreadful, if common fate. They were long-term smokers who had quit, yet who ultimately died terribly young, at 67, from tobacco-related diseases.
Jennings had quit for close to 20 years but, as he contritely noted when revealing his lung cancer diagnosis this past April, "I was weak and I smoked over 9-11."
Gzowski was mostly defiant about his smoking, filling radio booths and TV studios with toxic palls of smoke, but he too quit a couple of years before he died of emphysema, a form of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), in 2002.
Gzowski should just be entering his 70s now, with 15 or 20 years of work or retirement ahead of him. And with Tom Brokaw retired from NBC and Dan Rather forced out at CBS, Jennings should be at his desk or in the field, leading ABC News to top ratings for its coverage of Iraq, the Middle East, the space shuttle, human cloning and other stories.
Both men, however, unwittingly and tragically became part of the great underreported story of our day.
Smoking kills over 45,000 Canadians and 440,000 Americans every year -- some five million people around the world, according to WHO (World Health Organization) figures. But it doesn't bleed, so it doesn't lead.
We get occasional reminders about smoking's devastating impact on health when a Yul Brynner, a Nat King Cole, a George Harrison -- or a Peter Jennings or Peter Gzowski -- dies but, for the most part, families suffer their tragedies in private, losing loved ones to cancer and COPD and, in even bigger numbers, to smoking-related heart disease.
The nicotine cartel acts with impunity, but it's not too late to begin demanding it be held responsible for its deadly actions.
Unregulated, slender, deadly sticks of tar and carbon monoxide are killing scores of Canadians every day.
That fact alone should make it into print and on to broadcasts and TV newscasts regularly.
Peter Jennings and Peter Gzowski, at heart both good men and good reporters, would approve.
Stan Shatenstein Contributing Editor, Tobacco Control Co-editor, GLOBALink News & Information Montreal, Que.
Re: Smoking May Not Have Killed Jennings, letter to the editor, Aug. 11
National Post Saturday, August 13, 2005
Does parental smoking not lead to asthma, allergy, ear infection and, at the horrible worst, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in children?
We live in an age of extremism. Some men kill thousands by flying airplanesinto big buildings, others cut off heads and hands of total strangers, still others can be considered extremists for waging preemptive wars that kill and maim tens of thousands.
Thus, I don't take it lightly when I'm referred to as an extremist in the pages of the Post. How is it even possible to be a "tobacco control extremist"? Presumably, one would have to advocate the death penalty for tobacco industry executives or, worse, take the law into one's own fanatic hands. I advocate no such action, of course.
But what "anti-tobacco falsehoods" does letter-writer Eric Boyd think I spread? Of course I can't prove Peter Jennings' lung cancer and Peter Gzowski's chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were tobacco-related, but if it smokes like a duck....
So, whither falsehood? Do 45,000 Canadians not die every year from smoking-induced illness? Is smoking not the leading cause of preventable premature mortality and morbidity? Does parental smoking not lead to asthma, allergy, ear infection and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in children?
Stan Shatenstein, contributing editor, Tobacco Control Co-editor, Montreal.
Bumper tobacco crop expected -ON
By Eric Bunnell Times-Journal Staff Saturday August 13, 2005
TILLSONBURG, Ont. -- Hot, dry weather this summer means the prospect of a bumper crop for Ontario flue-cured tobacco producers.
“It certainly looks like a bumper crop,” Linda Lietaer, a spokeswoman for the Ontario Flue-cured Tobacco Growers’ Marketing Board, said this week.
But that’s not because producers haven’t worked hard at it.
Though tobacco is a dry weather crop, this summer’s periods of near drought have meant irrigation -- and that drives up the cost of production, Lietaer said.
“It adds to the cost significantly, as you can well appreciate.”
And because tobacco is a supply-managed crop, producers can’t just sell more than they are allowed to grow to recoup that cost.
Extra goes into storage for the next crop year.
“Different farmers look at (that) in different ways,” Lietaer said.
“In some