SMOKE-FREE ONTARIO: Creating a Smoke-Free Ontario
April 2008
CREATING A SMOKE-FREE ONTARIO
In 2005, the McGuinty government launched the Smoke-Free Ontario Strategy, combining public education campaigns with programs and policies. The Strategy encourages young people not to smoke; helps smokers quit; and protects people from exposure to second-hand smoke.
The government’s commitment to reducing tobacco consumption by 20 per cent before the end of 2007 was achieved ahead of schedule. Between 2003 and 2006, there was a 31.8 per cent decline in tobacco consumption indicating that approximately 4.6 billion fewer cigarettes were sold.
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;
• At least 500,000 hospital days annually; and
• $4.4 billion in productivity losses each year.
By working closely with a broad range of partners, the Smoke-Free Ontario Strategy has become widely recognized as one of the most comprehensive in North America. It funds programs provided by Ontario’s 36 public health units and major non-governmental health agencies, including: Cancer Care Ontario; Canadian Cancer Society, Ontario Division; Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario; Ontario Lung Association; and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).
HELPING ONTARIANS QUIT SMOKING
Ontario’s investment in cessation programs, services and training in 2007/08 has resulted in the following:
• Over 150,000 smokers have been helped by MHP-funded initiatives between 2005 and 2007.
• Call volumes to the Smokers’ Helpline have been increasing annually. Over 17,000 callers accessed the Smokers’ Helpline in 2006/07, an 8.7 per cent increase over the previous year. In addition over 7,000 people registered for the Smokers’ Helpline Online personalized and interactive quit program. The interim results for 2007/08 are continuing to show an increase in demand for the services of Smokers’ Helpline and Online.
• Approximately 27,000 Ontario smokers were motivated to quit during the month of March by participating in the Driven to Quit Challenge in 2007 and 2008.
• The STOP (Smoking Treatment for Ontario Patients Study), administered through CAMH, has reached approximately 53,000 smokers to help increase their odds of quitting, by providing counseling and free nicotine replacement therapy. Preliminary results for the 2006 mass distribution portion of the study showed that at least 12 per cent of participants had successfully quit smoking and stayed tobacco-free for six months. This quit rate is at least double the rate of success if a smoker tries to quit on their own.
Key Facts:
• There are over 1.7 million smokers in Ontario (aged 15+ years).
• Sixty-two per cent of adult smokers intend to quit smoking within six months; thirty-two per cent intend to quit smoking within 30 days (CTUMS, 2006); and
• Forty-three per cent of Ontario smokers made a serious attempt to quit smoking over the course of a year (CAMH Monitor Survey, 2006).
YOUTH SMOKING RATES
Youth smoking rates in Ontario (among grades 7, 9, and 11 only) have been steadily declining since the late 1990s, reaching their lowest recorded levels in 2005 and 2007.
Highlights of the 2007/08 prevention strategy for youth include:
• In March 2007, the first ever provincial Aboriginal Youth Summit brought together more than 200 youth province-wide to develop tobacco-wise activity for their communities.
• The Youth Action Alliance peer leadership program continues to be implemented in every public health unit jurisdiction in the province. More than 500 peer leaders and volunteer youth are engaged in this program throughout the province.
• Smoke-Free Ontario High School Grants continue to support student led tobacco control activities with up to $1,000 for each participating school.
• The award-winning stupid.ca youth prevention campaign ran again in 2007/08. To date there have been more than 1.2 million unique visitors to the site.
• The “What You Do Matters” public awareness campaign ran again in the winter of 2008, informing members of the Aboriginal community about the harmful effects of second-hand smoke.
Key Facts:
• In 2007, 72 per cent of Ontario students (grades 7 to 12) reported never having taken a puff of a cigarette in their lifetime, a 15 per cent increase since 2003 (OSDUS, 2007) — representing an estimated 170,000 lifetime abstainers; and
• In 2007, 12 per cent of students in grades 7 to 12 reported having smoked in the past year, down from 14 per cent in 2005.
SMOKE-FREE ONTARIO ACT COMPLIANCE
Almost all enclosed workplaces and enclosed public places are smoke-free.
Compliance with the Smoke-Free Ontario Act (SFOA) is at very high levels, with more than 99 per cent of inspected restaurants and bars considered smoke-free (OTRU, 2007).
• A year after the Act came into effect, 88 per cent of inspected vendors were in compliance with the existing display and promotion restrictions in the SFOA (OTRU, 2007).
• As of March 31, 2008 Public Health Units have conducted a total of 89,716 educational visits regarding the SFOA to tobacco vendors, bars, restaurants and workplaces; and have laid over 6,024 charges.
Moving forward:
• On May 31, 2008, a full tobacco display ban will take effect. The display of tobacco products will not be permitted in any manner that allows consumers to view the products prior to purchase. The ban is aimed at reducing impulse buying triggered by power walls to prevent youth from smoking and to help smokers quit.
HEALTH EFFECTS OF SMOKING
• Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Compared to non-smokers, men who smoke are about 23 times more likely to develop lung cancer and women who smoke are about 13 times more likely to develop lung cancer. Smoking causes about 90 per cent of lung cancer deaths in men and almost 80 per cent in women. Lung cancer is lethal, with a five-year survival rate of only about 15 per cent.
• Smoking can contribute to many other cancers, including:
o Pancreatic cancer
o Stomach cancer
o Bladder cancer
o Kidney cancer
o Cervical cancer
o Esophageal cancer
o Laryngeal cancer
o Oral cancer
o Leukemia
• Smoking is also a known cause of heart disease, stroke, and diseases of the vascular system. Smoking related cardiovascular disease is responsible for over 4,000 deaths in Ontario annually.
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis, is the third leading cause of adult smoking-related death in Canada.
HEALTH EFFECTS OF SECOND-HAND SMOKE
• Second-hand smoke causes disease and death. No scientific authority or regulatory health body in the world has established a safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke.
• Second-hand smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, of which more than 50 are known or suspected carcinogens. Second-hand smoke has been classified as a known human carcinogen by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, the U.S. National Toxicology Program, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
• Never-smoking spouses of smokers have an increased risk of lung cancer of between 20 per cent (for women) and 30 per cent (for men). Risks to highly exposed groups, such as hospitality workers, may be much greater.
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Contacts:
Rick Byun
Minister’s Office
(416) 326-8497
Julie Rosenberg
Communications Branch
(416) 326-4833
