Parents, teachers and public health campaigns all tell teenagers the same thing: Don't smoke. But that message is facing increasingly fierce competition from an influx of cheap, readily available cigarettes sold in school yards, on street corners or on native reserves without proof-of-age requirements.
The availability of contraband cigarettes in Canada is widely considered to be at an all-time high, and represents one of the biggest threats to anti-smoking efforts, particularly among young people, according to a coalition of health organizations calling for immediate action from governments and police forces to get the problem under control.
“There are no excuses. The health of Canadian youth is significantly jeopardized here,” Marco Di Buono, director of research at the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, said at a press conference yesterday. “The government must act now and protect our children before it's too late.”
By definition, contraband tobacco products include those sold outside provincial and federal rules and taxes. While there are several types of contraband cigarettes sold in Canada, the biggest supply is considered to be those manufactured directly on native reserves. Health groups are also concerned about the growing prevalence of counterfeit cigarettes, which come into Canada illegally, usually through China.
Sgt. Jean-Marc Piché
Sgt. Piché added that even though the bulk of the contraband tobacco originates in central Canada, it's often sold in the Atlantic provinces and in the western part of the country.
Although the problem of contraband tobacco is most pronounced in Ontario and Quebec, where the population concentration and strategic location of some reserves on the U.S. border makes product manufacturing and distribution easier, it's an issue that affects all Canadians. The RCMP says that a significant portion of the profits from contraband tobacco are used to fund illegal drug and firearms smuggling by organized crime.
But the Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco, a coalition of health organizations including the Canadian Cancer Society's Ontario branch, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and the Non-Smokers' Rights Association, say not enough is being done to address this problem. Political inaction is fuelling growth of the contraband market, which is posing a growing risk to young people, who make up the prime market for illegal cigarettes.
“We know youth are price-sensitive, and the low cost and easy accessibility of contraband cigarettes is having an adverse effect on tobacco use in Ontario,” said Rowena Pinto
The coalition is urging the provincial government to make a series of changes to crack down on the contraband market:
Give municipal police forces increased power to enforce restrictions on contraband products;
Outlaw the supply of raw materials, such as papers, filters, leaf tobacco and cigarette packaging, to unlicensed manufacturers;
Change the provincial quota system that provides Canadian tobacco products tax-free to natives on reserves in order to prevent the reselling of that product to non-natives;
Require health-based marketing on individual cigarettes.
The Canadian Convenience Store Association and Ontario Convenience Store Association agrees the government has been too lax on this issue, and predicts it will only worsen when the new harmonized sales tax takes effect this summer. Dave Bryans, president of both associations, said the growth of contraband sales is taking a major toll on the industry.
“If anything, it's putting our stores out of business every day,” he said.
However, some health organizations say that some convenience stores are sources of illegal cigarettes. Mr. Bryans said he's not aware of that problem and urged anyone to report convenience stores that sell contraband tobacco.
