SASK. LEADS COUNTRY IN PERCENTAGE OF SMOKERS

Cancer Society wants government action

REGINA — Donna Pasiechnik has been fighting for aggressive government action on provincial smoking rates for more than a decade.

“I feel like a stuck record,” said the manager of tobacco control with the Canadian Cancer Society’s Saskatchewan division.

The results of the Canadian Community Health Survey, released Thursday by Statistics Canada, didn’t help her mood.

Saskatchewan ranked first, with 22.8 per cent of residents 12 and over reporting that they smoke daily or occasionally.

Pasiechnik blames government inaction.

“Really, we need to be looking at how to change social norms around tobacco use and you do that through a combination of policy and education and a strategy, and in our view we simply haven’t taken this problem seriously enough,” she said.

The youth smoking rates are particularly troubling to Pasiechnik. The Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey has ranked Saskatchewan first for 10 years in a row.

Pasiechnik pointed to the 33.2 per cent of 20- to 34-yearolds in Saskatchewan as evidence of youth who have now grown up as smokers.

“We’ve been calling on the government to address our high teen smoking rates for years, and this is what happens when you don’t do what needs to be done,” she said.

The Ministry of Health has focused recent efforts on reducing youth smoking, said director of health promotion Tami Denomie. The View and Vote initiative had students vote on their favourite anti-tobacco ad, which will be shown in movie theatres and online in June. Smokestream, meanwhile, is a multimedia campaign targeting 11- to 14-year-olds.

Legislation has also sought to protect youth by banning smoking on school grounds, in vehicles with youth under the age of 16, and in store displays.

“We’re trying to create an environment where youth aren’t encouraged to smoke or they’re not encouraged to be around other smokers,” Denomie said.

The government expects to collect $285 million in tobacco tax revenue this year, but has devoted only $ 327,000 over 2014- 15 to smoking prevention and cessation programs. Last year, the government spent $390,000 on smoking cessation drugs through the Saskatchewan Drug Plan, and close to $400,000 on the Partnership to Assist with Cessation of Tobacco Counselling Program.

Pasiechnik praises the government’s effort, but reinforced that it’s not enough.

“We know what works to reduce smoking rates,” she said. “The problem is we’re not doing that in Saskatchewan.”

The cancer society as well as the Lung Association of Saskatchewan have been pushing for stricter tobacco control legislation, including a ban on flavoured cigarettes and smoking in outdoor public spaces, such as restaurant patios. Nearly one-fifth of health survey respondents said they were exposed to second-hand smoke in public places in the past month.

Tyler McMurchy, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health, said in an email that the government does not plan to change the Tobacco Control Act to cover public spaces. The ministry is monitoring the ban of flavoured tobacco products in other provinces before making a move, McMurchy said.

The cancer society also wants better enforcement of the illegal sale of tobacco products to minors. McMurchy said the government is currently reviewing its complaint-based approach for handling this issue.

Smoking rates are not an issue unique to Saskatchewan. The national rate is 19.3 per cent, having stagnated in the late 2000s.

Still, Denomie said she remains optimistic about Saskatchewan’s long-term downward trend.