Contraband tobacco represents 43% of all cigarettes consumed by Ontario high school daily smokers, grades 9 to 12, according to a new survey from The Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).
The study analyzed the smoking habits of Ontario students and concluded that 50 percent of high school daily smokers had at least one contraband cigarette a day, over the past year.
The percentage of adult tobacco smokers in Ontario has declined since last 2003 to 18.8%, nevertheless smoking rates among young people stayed quite high, at 11%.
The administration of the province has implemented several restrictive measures like taxation and forbidding the sale of tobacco products to minors, and now the problem is that the access to contraband tobacco might counter these measures.
Dr. Russell Callaghan, CAMH scientist and lead investigator on the study said that “it is important to implement strict policies to regulate the cigarette manufacturing supplies going into native reserves, as well as prevent smuggling of contraband tobacco from the US.”
“This form of tobacco consumption is particularly worrisome,” he added.
“Because of lower prices and lack of restrictions on purchase, youth are able to afford and access them more readily than regulated tobacco products.”
Contraband cigarettes are manufactured on United States and Canadian native reserves and they are sold in high quantities at lower prices regardless of the regulated environment which forbids the sale to minors.
This new study was published in the current edition of Tobacco Control and it completes the recommendations appearing in the Tobacco Control Strategy released last week by Ontario government.
Facing the growing spreading of contraband tobacco products in Ontario, serious measures need to be established and this 'trend' needs to be opposed though increased public awareness and enforcement.
This study is based on data coming from the 2009 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS).
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