The Province of Alberta dramatically marked World No Tobacco Day by announcing it planned to sue tobacco manufacturers to recover medical costs related to smoking illnesses.
May 31 was World No Tobacco Day. On this day the Crown’s Right of Recovery Act was proclaimed effective. This allowed the government to strike up legal action against the tobacco industry. It is seeking to recover $10 billion of health costs for smoking related illnesses.
“Each year more than 3,000 Albertans die from tobacco-caused diseases,” said Fred Horne, Minister of Health. “As part of our focus on wellness and keeping Albertans healthy, we will be renewing our tobacco reduction strategy to further decrease smoking rates, reduce exposure to second-hand smoke and providing more support to people who want to quit using tobacco.”
Martin McSween of Alberta Health and Wellness said this is a significant step.
“It is following some other provinces across the country and several states that have won the suits in the United States,” said McSween.
This year’s theme is Tobacco Industry Interference and McSween says the industry’s lobby is as strong as ever.
He explains the tobacco industry has a long history of lobbying and has even resorted to suing countries under bilateral trade agreements that wished to put warning labels on packaging.
On World No Tobacco Day McSween was in Hanna working with the Building Leadership and Action in Schools Today (BLAST) team doing presentations for students. He said one interesting aspect of the presentations was the strength and success of the tobacco lobby in normalizing the activity.
“Interestingly was that most of the students and teachers were under the influence that most people smoked and chewed,” said McSween. “That says a lot about the tobacco industry and their influence, it fit with the day…even with the awareness they (BLAST) have been doing there is still a perception.”
“Kids were even guessing as high as 90 per cent.”
The average is about 17 per cent.
He said this might be one of the reasons that provinces and states are addressing this issue.
“People still think it is normal and not addressing the health costs. 85 per cent of lung cancers are attributed to smoking, so if that 17-18 percent quit… I shiver at that,” he said.
According to a World Health Organization release the industry continues to lobby against other government initiatives such as smoking bans in public places and bans of advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
“They are pretty good, they are the best in the world. The top selling brand in the world is still Marlboro, and it is still working,” said McSween.
While they work against many initiatives, governments continue to raise awareness of the health consequences. By June 19 of this year all tobacco products in Canada must have labels that constitute 75 per cent of the package. Most have already noticed the changes.
Another lobby that is gaining steam is the banning of smoking in playground areas. A few municipalities including Vancouver and Lethbridge have banned it. Edmonton is mulling the idea.
McSween says such a ban goes beyond simply eliminating second hand smoke near areas where children play, but it is also a way to help clean up the area.
The results of the 2011 National Shoreline Cleanup in Canada saw a reported 351,238 cigarette butts being collected. During the Drumheller Earth Day Trash Challenge, many also pinpoint cigarette butts as one of the most prevalent items being collected.
