Smoking: an epidemic

Smoking is the number one cause of death and disease in Ontario. It kills 13,000 people every year.

We know that and yet a smoke-free Ontario is still far from being a reality. To discuss why that is the case, participants gathered for an interactive panel session on “Tobacco Endgame: Evidence, Knowledge Exchange and Politics (So Close and Yet so Far).”

Robert Schultz, associate professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences, and director of evaluation and monitoring, principal investigator, and research scientist at the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit, laid the foundation for the discussion by explaining why we haven’t yet won the tobacco endgame.

He was followed by Michael Perley, director, Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco, who spoke about arguments against the “B” word a.k.a banning!

Dr. Hazel Lynn, medical officer of health for Grey Bruce, followed next with local perspective on the end game. Her presentation drove home that point that smoking is an adult problem and we need to take action.

The presentations were followed by three excellent case studies:

• Ending exposure to second-hand and third-hand smoke by Roberta Ferrence  and Jaclyn Kaye – Ontario Tobacco Research Unit, University of Toronto
• Branding of cigarette packs – David Hammond, Dept of Health Studies & Gerontology, University of Waterloo
• Reducing retail availability: is the endgame hindering progress by Michael Chaiton, a professor in Tobacco and Public Health at U of T and a scientist at the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit.

I came out of the session with a better understanding of the politics involved in the tobacco endgame; why advocacy and lobbying are critical in implementing smoke-free environments and how together by working at local, provincial and federal levels can help us achieve our goal of Smoke-Free Ontario!