23 Oct 2009
by: SMDHU
Newly passed legislation that bans the addition of fruit and other child-friendly flavors in cigarettes, cigarillos and blunt wraps starting next year can be attributed in part to a local group of youth who began advocating for the law more than two years ago.
article 4, an anti-tobacco Youth Action Alliance (YAA) working under the auspices of the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, created a Flavored Lies awareness campaign back in 2007 to kick start an ongoing movement to expose the tobacco industry’s unethical and deceitful marketing tactics, including adding candy and fruit flavoring to tobacco products as a way to make them attractive to young people.
The campaign involved interactive displays and demonstrations at a Barrie Colts hockey game including messages on the Jumbotron and a human billboard to raise awareness of the industry’s tactics among youths and adults in the community.
“It was so obvious the flavoring was intended to make it taste better and we’d see kids in our school trying the berry-flavored cigarillos and getting sucked into the whole tobacco addiction,” says Kari Merriott, a former member of article 4. “We knew we had to speak out as a strong voice to say ‘stop trying to turn us into replacement customers for all the longtime smokers who keep dying from using tobacco.”
Around the province, other YAA groups did similar work to get attention in their communities and encourage local politicians to step up and ban the additives as an important step to help youth stay tobacco free. A Facebook group and participation at parliamentary hearings were also used to take a stand against big tobacco.
Merriott said it was an awesome moment for youth across the province when the legislation finally passed despite heavy-duty lobbying from the tobacco industry to water it down.
“It shows that we can make a difference. We spoke out and people listened. This is such an important step to shut down the industry’s longstanding tradition of marketing to kids and to help prevent teens and kids from getting addicted to tobacco.”
The amendment to the federal Tobacco Act includes prohibiting the flavoring in cigarillos, cigarettes and blunt wraps. As well, cigarillos and blunts can now only be sold in packages of 20 or more, effectively eliminating the “kiddy packs” that have been available at prices that make them affordable to youth.
Kara Thomson-Ryczko, youth advisor for article 4 said passage of the amendments addressing tobacco marketing to youth clearly shows that given the chance, empowered youth can make a difference. Unfortunately despite their successes, all provincial YAAs had their funding terminated by the Ontario government in August effectively cancelling opportunities to continue their work.
“I feel like a proud parent,” Thomson-Ryczko said. “These teens designed a whole range of grass roots programs to influence the community and politicians. And they learned a valuable lesson along the way: their voices do matter.”
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Background
Bill C-32, An Act to amend the Tobacco Act
Assented to 8th October 2009
Bill C-32 amends the Tobacco Act to provide additional protection for youth from tobacco marketing. It prohibits the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, little cigars and blunt wraps that contain the additives set out in a new schedule to that Act, as well as the packaging of those products in a manner that suggests that they contain a prohibited additive. It prohibits the packaging, importation for sale, distribution and sale of little cigars and blunt wraps unless they are in a package that contains at least 20 little cigars or blunt wraps. It also prohibits the manufacture and sale of tobacco products unless all of the required information about their composition is submitted to the Minister It also repeals the exception that permits tobacco advertising in publications with an adult readership of not less than 85 per cent.
More info is available on the Parliament of Canada website www.parl.gc.ca.
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