Smoking timeline: a legal history of smoking in Canada
It has been illegal to sell cigarettes to those under 16 years of age since 1908. Why are there so many kids still smoking today? This article outlines the steps the government has taken to limit smoking in Canada. Has it gone far enough? Should smoking be illegal?
According to the Lung Association of Canada, almost 20 per cent of Canadian teens (aged 12-19) currently smoke (daily or occasionally). Some tactics that tobacco companies use to target the youth market:
Cartoon character mascots: A U.S. tobacco company introduced the cartoon character Joe Camel, who became widely known by youth between 1988 and 1991. The success of the Joe Camel character was said to be directly responsible for the increase in cigarette sales from $6 million in 1988 to $476 million in 1991.
Promotional offers: Joe Camel ads once offered Joe Camel leather jackets, sandals and neon signs in exchange for coupons from Camel cigarette packages. Youth had to smoke many packs of cigarettes to receive these promotional materials.
Shifting the blame: Tobacco companies try to shift blame to youth who smoke instead of themselves. Tobacco companies suggest that youth have a choice whether to smoke.
Making tobacco look cool: Nearly all of The Simpsons cartoon characters (including children) have been seen smoking. Eighty-seven per cent of the top box office hits between 1988 and 1997 portrayed tobacco use an average of five times per movie.
Showing tobacco use as an “adult” activity: Tobacco companies send the message that smoking is for adults only but that a child can pretend to be grown-up by smoking
Alarming statistics from The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada on smoking and teenagers:
More than 90% of teenagers who smoke as few as 3 to 4 cigarettes a day may be trapped into a lifelong habit of regular smoking, which typically lasts some 35 to 40 years.
Canadians under the age of 19 consume about 1.7 billion cigarettes every year.
Among young women who smoke:
- 26% began smoking before the age of 13
- 83% before age 16
- and almost all before age 18
Smoking contributes to more than 37,000 deaths a year in Canada, of which almost 11,000 are heart disease and stroke-related (29% of all smoking-related deaths are heart disease and stroke-related).
Almost 6,300 non-smokers die each year from exposure to second-hand smoke.
Smoking is responsible for 14.54% of all heart disease and stroke deaths.
If current rates of tobacco use continue, approximately 1 million Canadians will die over the next 20 years as a direct result of smoking and second-hand smoke.
Becoming smoke-free
As soon as an individual quits smoking, the risk of heart disease and stroke begins to decrease.
- Within one year of quitting, the risk of dying from smoking-related heart disease is cut in half.
- Within 10 years, the risk of dying from lung cancer is cut in half.
- After 15 years, the risk of dying will be nearly that of a non-smoker.
More than 50% of former smokers report they are able to become smoke-free after one or two serious attempts
The percentage of people who remain smoke-free after one year of quitting ranges from 5% to 18%
There is a new, cheap brand of cigarettes coming to a boutique near you. They are being marketed as a young, hip alternative to the more sophisticated brands. They are hand-made by women in India, for a whopping $1.00 per day. Most of these women end up with bronchial asthma and permanent disabilities from using the same muscles over and over again from 6AM to 7PM. This is promoted as the best way for women to support their families, but, as the company gets rich, nothing is being done to better the working conditions of the job or fix the pay inequities. Listen to more about this new tobacco product here under Bidi’s deadly hold on India, Rick’s conversation with Murali
Digitizeme 
I personally think smoking should become illegal for all ages. I think this because many young males and females are being influenced to smoke because they see someone that they look up to smoke, such as a celebrities. Celebrities influence a lot of what happens in our society because they are considered ‘cool’. If we banned smoking for all ages especially celebrities and actually charged them and punished them for their consequences, majority of young people wouldn’t be smoking. Another thing we could is to educate kids at a very young age. An example would be to educate kids from grade 5 and so on about smoking and the negative affects it has on the body and so on and so forth. By doing this, young people would be educated on this matter and understand about this subject. Lastly, I think the government could stop this by shutting down the tobacco industry. This would be huge to our society because it save a lot of people and their health but the problem is can the government be willing to shut a company that brings in a lot of income for the government?
Smoking kills people around the world each and every day but people still decide to do it. Why is this? Well, some say that smoking is addictive and others believe that it’s ‘cool’. There are many ways to become addicted to something, but the important question that one should be considering is whether or not their addiction has a negative impact to their body. With smoking, there have been enough studies that prove that it has affected someone’s style of living in a negative manner. Smoking obtains a lot of publicity from TV shows and celebrities, so it’s easy to understand why some youth may begin smoking since the people they look up to do the same thing. From my point of view, even if smoking eventually became illegal, people would still decide to smoke. With that being said, a lot has changed recently in terms of smoking being banned from restaurants and other public spaces and I truly believe that this is a step in the right direction. What I would consider doing to lessen the popularity of smoking would be educating youth on the negative health effects of smoking before they become publicly exposed to it. By doing this at an early age, they will most likely take an anti-smoking stance later in life. Smoking is also a common cause of depression and loneliness, so I would encourage any friends and family members, if they smoked, to consider stopping for the benefit of their overall health and let help them find other hobbies or any activities to keep them busy and away from smoking. Only the smoker can really stop what he’s doing and prevent those second hand smokers from following but others can strengthen the courage of those needing help.
I believe that smoking is becoming a non-killable trend that kids pick-up from influences such as parents, friends, school and social media. The only way, in my opinion to put a dent in the number of teen smokers is to make tobacco illegal. I believe this because as a student who has seen many “stop smoking” and “dont start smoking” ads, they are not getting through to some of the youth because to some people the ads are looked at as jokes. If somebody starts smoking in their teens, they will continue to do so because of the social world that is opened from it. You can go out at lunch and make friends with others who are smoking who you otherwise wouldnt have thought about talking to. Also, you get more breaks at work if you smoke, im not sure why, but at my job if you dont smoke then there is no reason for you to want to take a break. Its social aspects of smoking like that that cause people, teens especially, to continue to smoke and then become addicted to it. If tobacco was made illegal then none of these social aspects would be available which would cause people to stop smoking completely. There are many ways to try and stop teen smoking and smoking in general, but the best way would be to make it illegal.
Teen smoking is becoming a big issue these days but I don’t believe that making it illegal will help anything. If smoking was made illegal most teens or adults would continue to smoke and just deal with the consequences. There are a few things that i believe would help this issue. for example, Canada has good rules against smoking ads on TV but i believe that the US should be the same. If teens aren’t exposed to smoking as much then maybe they’ll stop thinking of smoking as “cool” or “trendy”. I believe that if the price of cigarettes is increased or maybe doubled then it would prevent teens from smoking because they may not be able to afford them. The new rules Hamilton is implementing against public smoking will also help to prevent smoking in public.
(Continued) When I attend music festivals and observe teenagers who are smoking, they do so very flamboyantly and ignore the art of subtlety altogether. I often feel as though smoking is just another way to show off — to prove themselves as daring, adventuresome, and care little of repercussions. They often check and see whether people are watching or not. When I see teenagers behaving in such a way, I feel frustrated and a little depressed. I find it almost offensive that these youthful people are already tainting their young longs with dark, cancer-causing smoke; it’s so ignorant of all the people who suffer from painful health issues from smoking, and those who have passed away from smoking-related health complications. I have several family members who have endured and suffered from such things, and I would feel as though I am almost mocking the problems they’ve been faced with if I were to take up the habit now.
The perpetual smoking habits of celebrities that teens look up to, as well as the glamorization of smoking cigarettes through social networks such as Instagram contribute to the popularity of smoking amongst teenagers today, in my opinion. We cannot stop people from partaking in the harmful habit, and doing so would only encourage people to attempt smoking all the more. I think the best way to try and prevent smoking is warning youth of the dangers of the activity beginning from a very young age, and to make sure to continue the ad campaigns that warn of the long-term effects that smoking has on you and your health.
Smoking is a very big problem among teenagers all over the world. Many teens in Canada are smoking underage. One way to stop this is too stop advertisement of cigarettes, and to not allow smoking in public. Most teens who start smoking either see someone on T.V. or in real life walking around smoking. If we can ban advertising of smoking on and not show teenagers cigarettes on T.V., then they are most likely not going to start smoking. Also, teenagers start smoking because they see a friend, family member, or some random person smoking in public. If we ban smoking in public then teenagers will not be pressured to smoke to fit in.
The most effective way to prevent smoking would be to make it illegal; however that is extremely unlikely because of the immense success of the cigarette industry. Educating youth about smoking has been effective for many, but not all. It not only prevents them from smoking, but by children obtaining knowledge they can then pass it on and convince any relatives of theirs to quit smoking. However, the harsh and fatal side effects of smoking are not enough to stop some from smoking therefore, there needs to be a greater incentive for people not to smoke. Although, there are many laws in place like prohibition of smoking in and around public places, and smoking in the car with infants and children, there are not enough laws against smoking. By increasing the limitations of where people can smoke, and by increasing the fines given for the broken laws, the prevention of smoking can be improved greatly.
I think we should double the price of cigarettes due to the fact that it will not be affordable to those who smoke a couple packs a day. The average pack of cigarettes cost around $8, if that cost $16 people would still buy it, but they would smoke less because smokers will realize how much money they are actually spending. If we make cigarettes illegal people will start to abuse other substances like Marijuana, Cocaine, Heroin, MDMA, etc. Also, crime rates would increase due to the fact that there would be a lot of black market activity with cigarettes. Cigarettes is the most addictive substance there is today in the world. I personally know people who smoke just to look cool in front of their friends. The fact that they have to smoke to look cool is very disappointing in my opinion. To look cool should mean to be successful by getting high grades, accomplishing goals you have set or helping out your community. We should raise the awareness of the symptoms of smoking to the youth as a result of them to come to a realization. At the end of the day cigarette companies are just looking for profit and not worried about people health, although they put sign on the packs that it gives you harsh symptoms.
For every action there is a consequence, in this case its lung cancer and/or heart diseases and/or death. These teens are quiet capable of making their own decisions and if they want to smoke let them. They’re not kids anymore that need to be told what’s right and wrong, they know the difference. I believe one of the reasons why cigarettes are purchasable by teens under 18/19 years of age is because the seller looks at their physical appearance and assumes their legal. They should always ask for legal identification to determine the age rather than assumptions. Also under aged smokers have people who can legally buy cigarettes and supply it to them. Sure you could make more laws that will completely restrict teens from using cigarettes, but that won’t change anything. Marijuana is the perfect example, it’s completely illegal in Canada to anyone regardless their age, unless it prescribed. Still, there is a large population of teens that smoke Marijuana. I would go as far to say theirs more than double the amount of teens who smoke Marijuana than tobacco. Also, why are teens only being targeted when it comes to smoking? Just because you’re over the legal smoking age doesn’t mean you’re not vulnerable. No, they too can achieve heart diseases, lung cancer and even death.
Smoking is addictive and should be noted as illegal. Whether the individual is a young adolescent or an adult, smoking causes serious health problems. It is stated that almost 20 % of Canadian teens smoke cigarettes daily which is absurd and there are clear reasons as to why many teens ultimately smoke.
Physiological factors that influence smokers is that individuals who smoke ultimately do not care about the health risks that are involved with this habit. The country of Canada gives health benefits to individuals who are in need due to the public health care which causes the individual self to resume smoking on a regular basis. As we know smoking is addictive because of the high levels of nicotine in the cigarette. When the smoker inhales the nicotine, it immediately rushes to the brain where the effect will take place. The end result of smokers especially in teens is they become addicted and begin to always rely on the cigarette which is why smoking should become illegal.
The media plays a major role with teens who smoke because of the constant advertisement and visuals. In today’s society, media influences smoking on the youth more so than adults. Children and adolescents are exposed to smoking daily on the television, they see their peers smoking at school, and lastly their adult authority may have the habit of smoking.
As we can see, smoking is harmful and should be illegal. Governments all over the world and tobacco companies are not taking charge and banning this substance because of the profit that is being made. Those who are purchasing cigarettes are bringing in a surplus amount of money which is why the government is NOT banning cigarettes. These companies are not taking the individuals health and what the future holds into consideration because at the present time their business is sky rocketing. In conclusion, smoking is an addictive habit not only for adults but for teens as well which is why there needs to be rules/regulations and perhaps even make smoking illegal.
The actions of society effects the moral understandings of the people whom choose to smoke. We all say that smoking is bad and yet no one seems to take definitive action towards the real issue, however that statement is not entirely true for reasons of the New Zealand Government. They play to increase the price of nicotics to a degree which is basically un-affordable for the people whom use the products. for instance they predict that if the increase the price of nicotics by 70% by January of 2015, that there would be a reduction in the amount of people who smoke.
The use of commercials to show the effects might not have been the brightest ideas the commercial industry as it only advertised the products. This then added to the curiosity of the developing minds and created more interest in the products. However, if the effects of smoking were advertised to be a lot more harm to the human body, this could enable people to think twice about what they are inhaling into their bodies.
We as a society can also help reduce the amount of nicotics used by the people around us the same way as we do with actions that we find socially acceptable. For instance, if we found a way to make smoking between ages 13-19 socially awkward and unacceptable this could reduce the amount of youth who smoke. This could also then help with the medical problems created by the constant use of these nicotics.
We can only help reduce the amount of youth that smoke, if that’s your friends or somebody you might know. The best way to stop the amount of youth only starts with you.
I completely agree with this article. Smoking has always been a big problem in our society. Not enough is being done to educate teenagers about smoking. Schools need to teach the students about the risks of smoking. Parents and other family members should think about what they are teaching their kids by smoking around them. If kids and teenagers see their parents smoking, they might think it’s acceptable. Parents have to understand their role in teaching their kids about the risks of smoking. Another main reason why smoking is a problem with teenagers is because of peer pressure. Smoking is one of the biggest pressures that teenagers have to go through. The kids think they need to look ‘cool’ when they are with their friends and they think smoking is a great way to accomplish that. I think school boards should add limits to where kids are able to smoke at school. If there were fines for smoking near the school, kids might think twice about it. Although advertising smoking is illegal in Canada, I believe that there should be more advertising on why smoking is bad. Watching television is something almost all teens do. If there were more commercials on TV about the risks and dangers of smoking, fewer kids might start. Ads on social media and websites, especially YouTube, should be about smoking and the risks of it. If teenagers knew what they were doing to their bodies and their health; they might think differently. So I believe that, with a lot of work, we will be able to change how teenagers view smoking.
i believe that smoking should be illegal. just the fact that it is illegal for teens to buy does not stop them because smoking them is legal for teens, just the distribution is illegal. I think that making it against the law would greatly decrease the amount of kids that smoke but not get rid of it completely. In high school what usually gets kids to start smoking is peer pressure when entering a bad crowd that all smoke. Also store owners usually around high schools (or mine at least) are usually very lenient on the law of selling to kids. In my opinion the police should also be more strict on the store owners and find out where the teens are getting the cigarettes from. Also they see it as something cool and will get others attention if shows/media showed smoking in a more socially unacceptable way then i think that it would help decrease the amount of teen smokers in the future. Another reason the students start smoking is a rebellious nature. Influence also plays a roll in this, if ones parents smoke then their kids are more likely to do the same. i believe that if cigarettes become illegal then kids will not be able to get smokes so easily and therefor decrease the amount that they smoke.
Going to a High school everyday gives some insight on why teenagers take to smoking cigarettes. Some of the kids get in with the bad crowd and are peer pressured into start smoking from which point they become addicted. Another reason, I believe, is a sort of way to rebel when teenagers are in unfortunate home environments. They want to get out and, like a lot of other kids in the same position, they smoke because parents (at least most) would hate it if their kids smoked. Another large problem is that convenience stores are easily willing to sell kids smoking products. There is one not 5 minutes away from my school that will sell you cigarettes because it’s money and they don’t bother enforcing the law. Smoking, unfortunately, usually comes with kids that like to drink quite a bit as well, leaving some kids very unhealthy. Personally, do I think things will change? No. There is no law in Ontario that will get kids in trouble for underage smoking, the person giving them the product can get charged, however the kids committing the act get off with nothing. There needs to be more enforcement from Municipal, Provincial, and Federal governments for a true change to occur, which doesn’t look like it will be happening any time soon.
The age limit to buy smokes should be more serious, and it should be further severe to buy smokes underage or be in possession of them. Most kids start smoking at the young age because of their parents being smokers, to fit in because it is what a group of people are doing or peer pressure by current smokers. They think it is the cool thing to do, so why not follow along. Teens should be taught from a young age about what smoking can do and how it will affect one later on in life. With teaching children at a young age, I believe this will decrease the amount of smoking slowly and it would have more of an impact on people who are thinking about starting to smoke. Smoking should be more limited in area where it is harder to find a place to smoke. Doing so will maybe help some people quit or not start because of there being no area to go light up. As far as the advertisements it is being cut down in today’s world I notice but they still try to sneak in those smokes in commercials, movies or video games to make it look cool and the right thing to do. Personally, I believe that is wrong because it is impacting children who know nothing about the danger of smoking.
I have always been against smoking, as I have personally seen how the effects of tobacco can harm both the smoker and those around them. I think that the primary reason why teenagers and young adults start smoking is because they grew up with friends or family that smoked. Even though they may have heard about the dangers of cigarettes, they still were exposed to them everyday, and they somehow didn’t seem as dangerous as doctors claimed they were.
I think that the only way to completely stop this issue is to ban cigarettes, but that would be a very difficult thing to do, as so many people in the world are addicted already. If cigarettes could not be banned, then other precautions would have to be taken to try and prevent more people from becoming smokers. For example: educating students (starting in grade school) on the effects tobacco can have on your health, increased public awareness of the dangers of smoking, and raising the age for people wanting to purchase cigarettes. The media (such as movies and music videos) also needs to do their part and stop glorifying smoking by making it look rebellious and cool. Media influences everyone, especially kids and teenagers who are still growing and figuring out who they are.
Both the media and society need to make a greater effort at steering youth to make decisions that will benefit them throughout their whole lives, and not to put themselves at risk just in an attempt to “look cool” or rebel. There is nothing glamorous about putting your health in jeopardy.
I believe that teens are influenced by numerous factors. One being friends and high school. When you look at the kids who smoke on a daily basis, it’s generally kids who have a had a tough time with friends in the past. With smoking, it is something that one may have in common with a group of people. Another factor is parties and drinking. At parties there are often older students who attend the parties and influence kids to try it. Smoking creates a certain look on students, and that look may be appealing to some, and to achieve that look, they feel they should start smoking. Another aspect is parents. If a student has smoking parents they are in the presence of smoking and it becomes more familiar. Using smoking as an excuse because of stress may influence some to try smoking when going through a hard time.
Limiting smoking over all can lead to curiosity of much worse drugs. So with that said, I don’t think there is a way to stop smoking, but to limit to accessibility. Becoming more strict on the availability of smokes may be one solution. There may be an age limit on buy cigarettes, but having an age limit on smoking them as well may be a better solution. When smoking, there isn’t the fear of getting caught by police or teachers. As well as limiting smoking areas. I can’t speak for all schools, but most have a smoking area 3 minutes away where it’s convenient for students to smoke between classes.
Another option of limiting smoking within students is making them more aware of the future consequences. Smoking isn’t frequently talked about within schools. And with that, that gives students no reason not to smoke. Throughout my high school year, smoking has been talked about once or twice. If parents aren’t teaching their kids the harmful aspects, schools should be educating students, considering that is where they spend majority of their time.
In my opinion, teens should be taught more about the negative consequences of smoking cigarettes. They should be more aware of all the damages it causes to your body and future. First of all, parents play a major role in every teens life and are known as their first teachers. It should be their responsibility to explain the risks involved with smoking. Also, I believe in school they should focus more on smoking at an earlier age and bring the issue out into the open. Teens should be aware about how smoking has an impact on your body such as killing brain cells, destroying your lungs, how it can lead to more drugs and change your appearance on the outside. Secondly, I believe the prices of cigarettes should be raised which will make it difficult for teens to buy. Smoking can change your future as well. Some teens started smoking at an early age and led onto heavier drugs, which kept them away from their education. Teens need to realize that most of their income will go into smoking. This will make daily life very difficult and put a lot of stress and pressure on them. It can possibly ruin all of the potential they have. All these reasons should be taught to teens and try to motivate them to stay away from smoking. Lastly, media has a great influence on all teens. The movies, dramas, songs, etc, all have content, which motivates smoking. Teens should be limited from this content because it has a great influence. I believe all of these things can have a huge impact to help decrease the amount of teenagers that smoke.
I think smoking should be banned in recreational places, such as parks, beaches and sporting arenas, especially since these are common places where children play. Hopefully by eliminating smoking in recreational places, this would prevent children from picking up the habit.
I was reading down the lists of entries to comment on and when I read the title of kids smoking it definitely interested me to read it. I am definitely against smoking and it is somewhat of a passison against it so I wanted to make my comments on this article. However, reading this article it seems that the information and stats are old as the years quoted are seem outdated. However, I am sure that if this article was rewritten the facts would stay the same with todays stats. I do believe that smoking for kids is definitely a problem today. The band on selling cigrattes to kids does not seems to be doing anything. Just as kids get alchol but it is illegal to sell that to them either. Kids still think it is ‘grown up’ to smoke or ‘cool’ to smoke and once they start they are hooked. I think the only way to get cigrattes out of kids hands is to get it out of adult hands. I think smoking should be banned period. I know that this will probably start a ‘black market’ for cigrattes but at least this would stop a lot of people from smoking. I also know that would put a lot of tabbaco farmers out of work but they could start farming other produce that would benefit our community rather than harm it. I am for making smoking illegal for all ages!
I believe that illegalizing cigarettes is not the solution to our ever-growing problem of cigarette smoking. By making the selling of cigarettes are illegal, we are losing a lot of money as an economy, and our gross domestic product will suffer as a result. As stated earlier, children smoke, or at least start smoking because it is rebellious. Maybe the proper course of action would be to legalize smoking for all ages. No matter what obstacles are or are not in the way, some people will still find a way to smoke. By legalizing smoking though, we prevent the children from starting that only tried smoking for rebellious purposes. By stopping smoking from the beginning, the children will not have a terrible addiction later in life that could cost them a lot of money, and possibly their life.
One law that could potentially decrease the number of smokers though would be to limit the places that people are allowed smoke. By making it difficult to smoke, some people will lose interest since they may have to smoke inside their own house. Many children will also not start since smoking in their own house means smoking in front of their parents, who may not approve of such a disgusting habit.
After reading these statistics it truly made me realize how socially acceptable it has been made to smoke cigarettes. Whether it is being displayed in a campaign, ad or even if it is your favourite actor in a commercial; smoking is everywhere no matter how you feel about it. In an ideal world I would hope that nobody would ruin their bodies with such disgusting habits but I believe it is really too far gone to reverse. The amount of smokers in the world is only increasing. My father’s best friend passed away a year ago of bladder cancer after it had spread to his lungs. He was one of the heaviest smokers I had ever met and the cause of his cancer was directly rooted back to just that. Originally he was given 3 months to live, then all of a sudden it was 2 weeks and unfortunately he died 4 days later. It goes to show just how fast something so seemingly little can take away your life in a matter of days. After he passed I assumed it would have struck a chord with my dad; that maybe he would quit smoking himself and want to live a healthier life. My dad cut down his smoking habits for about a month, but shortly after he was back to smoking every day. The main idea I get from that is if someone you care about deeply passes from smoking himself to death and you still can not quit smoking: Is there truly anything that can change your habits? I suppose certain people just have the trait within them to want to change but it is most definitely a rare one. More people need to be efficiently educated about the negative effects of smoking and without any of the filters; they should not sugar coat the truth and make it look any less deadly than it is. Until then I can only hope a healthier alternative can be made for smoking.
Rachel,
Just remember, there is no advertising or commercials allowed in Canada for cigarettes. They are quite prevalent in movies and some TV series, especially those situated in the 1950s.
I have to say that educating of the advantages of quitting may be the best way to go at creating a smoke free world. We all know the tobacco companies will continue to advertise in creative ways and pin the blame on everyone else other than themselves. If the statistics are true about the benefits of quitting smoking, we need to push those facts to the public, show them what smoking can do, then show the drastic, definitely lifesaving changes that come out of quitting.
In a personal opinion, it drives me crazy when people smoke around me. Not only are they hurting themselves, but they are hurting me as well. I don’t want to breath that garbage. Making smoking illegal would be a difficult process, considering how drugs are illegal but people still have their ways of getting them. Why would smoking be any different? There is also the taxes idea that the government makes so much money off the sales tax that they would never make smoking illegal. Due to this unfortunate truth, we need to educate, as education is the clearest way at this time to take a stab at smoking.
What we only see is the statistics of teen smoking. But why is it happening? I’m not saying I can speak on behalf of all teens, but I can speak for myself. I am 18 and I have been smoking for two years now unfortunately. I remember learning about Joe Camel the character in grade five. However, I had never heard about their promotion strategies. In our generation, there are no advertisements for smoking which is a very positive aspect of the issue. I believe education is a strong role in this situation. Keep teaching teens about the effects of cigarettes because ever since we started doing that, it has made a huge difference in our statistics. Some reasons why teens smoke could be from getting into the wrong crowd, overwhelming stress, depression, or all of the above. Teens feel like they have nothing to fall back on, so they turn to something such as smoking. Therefore, teens who are mentally unstable or do not have a good state of mind are more likely to give into the pressures and start smoking. It’s up to the individual to make the decision. Society can only try it’s best to change their mind before it happens.
In reading this article I can honestly say that some of these facts are quite dated. I don’t mean to belittle anyone who chooses not to smoke but the key word is choose. I work at a Food Basics in my neighborhood and we do sell cigarettes and the rules for sales of tobacco are very strict. Today, nothing that appeals to children like a cartoon character is allowed on the packages, instead a warning of a certain size must be the first thing you see. Once the box is open another card has to cover the actual cigarettes with the facts stated by heart and stroke. I agree that they are a danger to your health but since when has that stopped people? I won’t lie, I’ve smoked a cigarette before and it was of my own will. I wasn’t tricked, forced or bribed into it. I’m 100% behind a healthier Canada but the effects of making cigarettes illegal may cause heavy tobacco addicts to develope major problems. After all just because something is illegal doesnt mean it doesnt exist. Just like drugs, laws will be broken and cigarettes will be found. Other dangers of quitting cold turkey include serious withdrawal issues. In my opinion the duty to stop children from wanting to smoke lies with the parents. The government has many laws in place to prevent underaged smoking but what would make a great impact is communication between child and parent. If you’re concerned for your child talk to them, explain these horrible ramifications even if you are a smoker yourself. Identify that it’s unhealthy. Ultimately if someone wants to do something badly enough they will, the best anyone can do is help spread awareness and be aware of the dangers themselves.
I personally think smoking is a horrible habit to get into and should be avoided if possible. At the same time I understand that people have stressful lives, and feel the need to smoke in order to calm themselves.
These same people are usually over the age of 19 and have a job or family to worry about. When people under the age of 19 smoke they are usually smoking for different reasons altogether. Granted, they may have stressful lives, but most youths will take up smoking to fit in and feel accepted among their peers. Smoking to fit in may have advantages such as hanging out with the cool kids, but in my opinion the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages.
I do not think that smoking should be made illegal because that will bring more problems than it fixes. Even if smoking is made illegal people will still find a way to get cigarettes. Marijuana is illegal but people who want to use it will find a way to get it. The same will happen for the use of tobacco.
The organized crime that is behind other drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, etc, will adopt tobacco and supply it to people who demand it’s use.
I feel the only way to encourage people not to smoke is to stop the habit while they are young. Young people are more likely to follow a role model than an older person. If that role model smokes, it is right to assume the young person will follow. Advertisement companies are obviously aware of this and will continue to exploit it as long as they can.
When I was doing so research on this topic I came across a stat from Stats Canada that says approximately eight out of every ten teenagers who try smoking become habitual smokers. This makes us think, how do we make teens and kids stop experimenting with cigarettes so that they don’t ruin their lives because of a dumb choice they made when they were young. Some of the things that I think should be done are the following:
If a minor is caught smoking there will be a large fine. And this will be strongly enforced.
I know from experience that some people don’t strongly enforce anti teenage smoking (maybe because they think it’s a losing cause, but if people start enforcing the laws now, it will save countless lives in the future.). As well the fine should be high for the people who sold the cigarettes to the kids.
Education
We have to start educating kids at a young age so that they grow up realizing that smoking is something that they should never consider doing, no matter what their situation is. They have to talk about what’s in cigarettes, how much it cost to smoke, second hand smoke, what can happen to your body, lots of pictures. Not just saying “don’t smoke” because people don’t take it seriously. People have to change their presentation and stuff depending on whom the audience is (know your audience), for parents, focus on second hand smoke, for teens the cost of smoking.
Make the legal age that people can buy cigarettes older
The most frequent way that teens buy cigarettes is by using a fake id, so if you make the legal age older (like 25 or something) it will be much harder for teens to buy them as most teens can’t pull off looking like they are 25 and therefore it will be easier for store owners to stop kids from buying them.
*Make smokers pay (extra) for their health care
This is just something that I thought of as I was doing some research. In the states, where people have to pay for health care, it costs smokers as much as 40 percent higher than those for non-smokers. Whereas in Canada healthcare is free, but part of our taxes go to that, so because people are smoking and causing more problems (therefore more money is needed) maybe the smokers should have to pay extra money to make up for it. As it doesn’t seem fair that everyone else should have to pay because some people made a bad choice.
One of idea that seems pretty logical is to make the production of cigarettes illegal, but I wouldn’t count on this as it will be highly unlikely to happen as it is a business that makes too much money.
Personally I think that smoking should be banned. However, I know that would prove to be as useful as the ban of alcohol in the 1920’s. I think that in order to put an end to smoking, you have to start by educating people. Students in this day in age really need to know the dangers of smoking, which can lead to more dangerous things, like drugs and alcohol. This should be made known to them before they are tempted to pick up that cigarette. I believe that learning about the effects of smoking is a good thing to learn in elementary school. From my personal experience, my parents have always told me the truth about smoking, drugs and alcohol. Both sets of my grandparents smoked. I say smoked because on my father’s side, my grandpa stopped smoking a few years after starting. I wish I could say the same about my grandma. My grandpa was a chain smoker; that is until she had an aneurism back in 2007 from a stroke. She had a few more strokes over the years and was even diagnosed with diabetes, which was caused by the smoking. A couple years ago she was diagnosed with emphysema, which put her on an oxygen tank. Just last year around this time she was diagnosed with lung cancer and was hospitalized a few months later. She stayed there until just before Christmas. She had a heart attack, and then the following morning she passed away. I know what the effects of smoking have, not only on the person’s body but their family as well. Education is the only way to show students and even adults the effects that smoking can have not only in their life but others as well.
After reading this article, I am very disappointed in people who choose to smoke. With statistics like these, I do not understand what would possess someone to start smoking in the first place. People who decide to smoke are choosing to die early and are harming the lives around them. I feel that smoking should be illegal, but cannot be, only because of the significant income each purchase brings into our government. I also believe that is why the government is not illegalizing them, because of the money they receive from each purchase. My idea to lower the percentage of smokers would be to increase the cost of cigarettes drastically. Imagine, someone paying ten dollars or more for a package of cigarettes! That would not make sense at all. Of course, because cigarettes are highly addictive, people would need to purchase them in order to satisfy their craving. Also, with the increased price, it may encourage smokers even more to try to quit their dreadful habit. I believe this might work because no one would want to pay ten dollars or more for a package of cigarettes. To conclude, I believe the best way to stop smokers from smoking is to simply increase the cost of cigarettes.
In response to this article, I ultimately believe that smoking should be illegal. What I don’t understand is if something is so bad for you and causes nothing but harm to your health, why does the government allow it to be sold at nearly every gas station and convenience store? I suppose the simple answer is profit. To follow what Diana said above it is extremely hard to believe that the government and tabacco companies care more about making a profit than the health and well-being of their consumers.
The steps towards what should be done in regards to dismiss smoking is going to be a long consistant process that will take time and patience. I believe that “Effects and Outcomes of Smoking in Teenagers and Adults”, should be a unit that is fit into every school system in the world. Most teenagers start smoking because there friends do it, or because there parents did it, or purely just to ‘experiment’. I believe that the statistics could be cut down if children and teenagers were more educated on the issue.
Another step that would work towards a smoke free world was if taboacco companies didn’t advertise cigarettes like they were some cool commodity or accessory. Infact I do not think that the media should even allow tabacco advertisements, whether it be on television, magazine, poster, or radio unless they are portraying them as negative and harmful.
I realize that the government would like to make a profit off of the consumers well being, and ultimately they are in two different ways. Smokers must buy the cigarettes, and then once the effects of the tabacco have kicked in they must go to a hospital. Where does their money from the hospital bills go? Ofcourse the government. Smoking is extremely costly, consumers must purchase the merchandise, purchase something to light the cigarette, pay more for their health insurance; since smokers are charged more, and once the time comes pay for their costly hospital bill. Oh and lets not forget the mess it makes of our cities and towns. Every smoker believes that they can just throw their cigarette on the ground like it will disappear in two seconds. In actuality it just gives for a trashy look and a more polluted economy.
In reality our world would be a much cleaner place with out cigarettes. We must face the fact that cigarettes will not become illegal anytime soon, they are just becoming more technologically advanced. For example the “smoke free cigarette” which is electronic and sweeping consumer markets. However just because we know the problem will not go away, we can still all contribute to help lessen the issue.
Smoking has been a serious issue for so many years, yet nobody does anything about it. It just makes me laugh that the government and tobacco companies care more for the profit of cigarettes than the health of their consumers. With the statistics I read about smoking and the millions of lives it takes each year, i find it extraordinary how the government isnt taking more precautions to prevent people from starting smoking, or even to break the habits of those who are. The worst part of all of this is that individuals under the age of 18 are able to get their hands on cigarettes as if it were candy. They start off with such a terrible habit so early in their lives, and the chance of quiting become even smaller. Why do tobacco companies allow this to happen? Its obvious that the tobacco comapies aren’t going anywhere for an extremely long time, but it would at least be nice for them to take a step and try to prevent any youth from smoking. Another issue when it comes to smoking is second-hand smoke, which is apparently extremely similar to smoking itself. Even those people who have not taken into this bad habit, have to endure second-hand smoke which also increases the risk of dieing from a smoking related disease. I feel as it the governement should find more ways to prevent and protect those people who do not want to be surrounded by cigarettes. In conclusion, smoking is a disgusting habit and something I won’t ever consider trying.
In my opinion smoking is a nasty and disgusting habit. I feel that smoking is almost like committing suicide. You are just taking the tolls of suicide in an elongated process. It is a very selfish act to smoke and harm not only yourself, but those exposed to your second hand smoke. I believe smoking and selling of tobacco products should be illegal. Smoking should not be appealing to teens or allowed by their parents.
I feel educators should be showing the harsh reality of smoking in a more negative manner. That way children would be totally repulsed by the idea of smoking. Tobacco is known for directly killing millions of people in the world. I don’t understand how marijuana can be sold legally to help those dying due to tobacco use, yet is illegal for other purposes. In all tobacco is a like a drug, but a drug that kills you. So why are we as a society still letting it be sold and smoked today?
I personally think that smoking should be illegal and banned everywhere, however there are the obvious factors as to why it is.
Smoking apparently helps many people to relax. A smoke before exams, work breaks or to take your mind off personal issues are all reason as to why people turn to smoking. As well, the governments throughout the world make huge profits from levying taxes on cigarettes. This provides funds which are used for building schools, hospitals and other public amenities. The tobacco industry also employs thousands of people throughout the world. Without cigarettes, these people would have no jobs.
However, despite these points, the arguments against smoking are strong. Smoking has been shown to be dangerous to health. Heart disease, bronchitis and lung cancer have all been linked. A further issue is that smoking costs governments millions of pounds because of the large number of people who need treatment in hospitals for smoking related problems. There is also concern today about passive smoking. Research has shown that non-smokers can suffer health problems if they spend long periods of time among people who do smoke.
In general, I think the world would be a better place without cigarettes. It causes the death of hundreds of people and i think that is very injustice of the government to continue with this epidemic that can easily be resolved. Mortality rates are decreasing, the number of cancer patients is rising and people who smoke cigarettes are more like to experiment with other drugs. Yes it may help people relax but there are healthier ways to deal with it like exercise which the government should be using their money towards for funding and should be focusing on advertising the healthy lifestyle. People tend to do what is the norm of the society and if a healthy lifestyle was promoted then people will change their habits. Smoking as been the norm for too long – I think it’s about time to change that.
I believe that smoking should be made illegal all together. It will decrease the amount of teenagers who smoke, along with the amount of adults. Unfortunately, it is completely impossible to totally distinguish smoking but it will decrease how many people smoke. By making smoking illegal it will increase public health making the air that we breathe a little bit healthier. Many young adults and teenagers start smoking at a young age due to parents and parental figures in their life whom smoke. It is a chain effect that will diminish over time with the ban on cigarettes. In conclusion, I strongly believe that the ban on cigarettes will ensure the decrease in people who smoke, along with a healthier environment and an increase in public health.
In the world we are in today, I believe that smoking should become illegal and eventually become non-existent. Although the age that you are allowed to buy cigarettes is 18, people under this age are
still getting their hands on them and using them daily. This happens because the legal aged teenager buys them for their friend, which is feeding the addiction. I do not think that anyone should be allowed to buy cigarettes, because they are just killing themselves slowly.
It doesn’t matter what your reason is for starting to smoke, whether it be to rebel against your elders or parents or if it’s to fit in with your friends, either way it’s wrong.
A lot of teenagers and youg adults get the idea to start smoking from the media. All of the commericals that are showing teens smoke may make some people think that they will be
fine if they start because the person on the television is. They are wrong to think that, because television is not real life, it’s fake. I think that these shows or movies on tv should show what really happens inside the body of someone who smokes. I also think that the ads in magazines play a role in why people smoke, because a lot of the time they portray that the person looks more attractive in the ad with a cigarette in their hand. I feel like they do not look better, due to what they are doing to their body.
I think that the best way to prevent youth and adults from smoking is to educate them. You can do this many different ways, whether it be education videos on how it can affect not only you, but the others around you as well. I feel like in health education at school, they should touch base more on what the short and long term effects of this drug can do to you. As well, for the people who do smoke I feel that their educators should let them know what happens when they quit smoking. By doing this, it may give them motivation and a reason to quit so that they can save their body while they can.
Although I realize that if the world were to make smoking illegal, people would go and break the law just to get their hands on a cigarette.
In closing, I would hope that we do something about this increasing problem in the population today. Although, it is known that if we were to ever ban this substance that it would not ever go away. People would find a way to get a hold of it illegally, even when
they know that they are doing is bad for you overall health.
I, personally, don’t think that smoking should be made anymore illegal than it already is. I’m really not sure that there is anything that we could do to prevent people from smoking. They know that it’s unhealthy, I have many friends and family members who tell me not to smoke because it’s so unhealthy. By making it illegal, it would simply insure that thousands and thousands of people would be breaking the law.
As for the younger people who smoke, some of them do decide to do it because it’s illegal and it makes them feel “badass” (pardon my language.) or something along those lines. If the government were to make it altogether illegal it would just make them want to even more. Other teenagers smoke simply because they have family members that do and they got hooked on secondhand smoke, or they wanted to fit in with a group of people. In which case, it could go either way.
I feel that perhaps the only thing we can really do is educate children from an early age. We need to tell them what it does, why and how continuously throughout their school career. Diagrams, people who have contracted some sort of cancer(s) from smoking, charts, pictures, etc should be shown to them at different stages. Though we should try and make it as varied as we possibly can, most children will get bored of listening to the same thing over and over again every year by grade 5 or 6. We should also save the more graphic, sad information until the kids are in high school or even middle school.
There is no guarantee that anything we do will work 100% or even a moderate amount. People will do what they choose to do, we can attempt to influence them but they will ultimately do whatever they feel like doing.
The way i think smoking could be reduced is banning it completely.
I believe that all smoking does is harm us, not only the person who is smoking the cigarette but the people around them, second hand smoke can be more harmful then actually smoking it.
Young teenagers start smoking because they see everyone around them doing it, their friends, parents and peers. They also start because they think it is cool and rebellious and they want to be popular. I think people who smoke are certain types of people because i see the people at my school who smoke and they’re people who aren’t grown up and some what immature. I mean i don’t judge people who smoke, my parents and brothers smoke and a lot of my friends do. My parents started because they didn’t know it was bad for them but my brothers started the same way every teenager did, they were immature in high school and it was cool to do, so now they are in the habit. I think i didn’t start because i matured at a early age.
So if it was unavailable to buy, we wouldn’t have this problem. I don’t think it would be stopped any other way because it is always available, either getting someone older to buy it for you, sneaking it from your parents or stealing it, Its always there for them to get it.
I wonder why cigarettes were legal in the first place? Its common sense that it would be unhealthy for you.. but yet it still is legal. And why is marijuana illegal? It hasn’t done harm to anyone or killed anyone and it also can be used as medication.
So in my opinion, smoking is a disgusting habit that should be illegal.
In my opinion, in order to further reduce smoking it would be beneficial to completely ban it among the whole of society. In targeting teen smokers, we really must also target the adult smokers for various reasons. First, teenagers who are underage to purchase their own cigarettes quite possibly either steal from their parents or get their parents to actually buy them for them. If smoking was illegal all together, this would eliminate this issue because then no one would be able to purchase cigarettes- or not legally anyway. Secondly, if adults were no longer permitted to smoke, the appeal to teenagers would also decrease due to the novelty teenagers wish to possess of looking like an adult by participating in a sophisticated adult activity. In general, all other drugs are banned as illegal and immoral. Why is tobacco an exception?
I think people have the right to chose whether they want to smoke or not. It is their body and what they choose to do with it is their choice.
Therefore smoking should not be illegal, provided that smokers are within the limitations.
limitations should include:
1. Smoking outside, I understand that some smokers may find it annoying or inconvenient to go outside instead of smoking wherever they want. But seeing as the smoker is the one threatening their life, it gives them no right to sit in, say a bar and smoke where everyone else must breathe it in as well.
2. If there are children under the age of 16 in the same house as a smoker, the smoking should be done outside. And if there is a child in a car smoking should be illegal in a car, even if the windows are open.
3. When finished with your smoke, it should be illegal to throw the smoke butt onto the street, there is a garbage for a reason. Littering is illegal, and I believe that a smoke butt is considered garbage.
These three limitations alone, would benefit a community.
The tobacco industry purposely produces a product that kills thousands of people per year. These products include cigarettes and flavoured cigars which evidently should be illegal. This would benefit the health of not only the smoker, but the surrounding people as well. “Smoking contributes to more than 37,000 deaths a year in Canada, of which almost 11,000 are heart disease and stroke-related.” If cigarettes were illegal, it would reduce the amount of deaths per year.
Denormailzing cigarettes and the tobacco industry is the key factor for kids not to start smoking, therefore hindering the sales of the tobacco industry and possibly proving to the government that they should make it illegal. If the profits decrease as well as the amount of people smoking, the tobacco industry will be no more.
In order to impede the tobacco industry, media must stop promoting cigarettes and the tobacco industry. For instance, in movies and television shows, especially for children (i.e. 101 Dalmations- Cruella De Vil). The more kids see cigarettes, whether it be in real life or on t.v., the more they believe it is acceptable even though it is harmful. The media should put a taboo on advertisements relating to the tobacco industry.
Many teenagers start smoking in order to be rebellious to their parents or to reduce stress. These are not justified reasons to start smoking because you are not getting back at your parents by smoking, you are only causing harm to your own health. Furthermore, there are numerous alternative ways to reduce stress such as exercise, yoga, or therapy. This shows that there is a lack or education among teens. A parent or guardian should talk to their children about their views on smoking and inform them that it is something they will have to live with for the rest of their lives as it is addictive and extremely difficult to quit. In addition, schools should have seminars, assemblies and/or anti-tobacco industry groups in order to denormalize the tobacco industry. Educated new generations would change the perspectives and the census that smoking cigarettes is a way to rebel, to relieve stress or to appear “cool”. When laws change, they do so as a response to broad shifts in society that occur over a period of time. Therefore if more people desire cigarettes to be illegal, new laws will be created.
Smoking cigarettes should be illegal considering a less harmful, organic drug, marijuana is illegal. Cigarettes are specifically produced to target teenagers and get them hooked for life which ultimately is a major contribution to their death. On the other hand, marijuana which has never intentionally killed anyone and can infact be used for medical purposes is illegal.
The power is in the consumers to stop the tobacco industry. This will be done by denormalizing cigarettes and the tobacco industry by minimizing it in the media and educating society. Education can come from parents, trusted adults, schools and advocate groups with the help of facebook, twitter and other social networks. Consumers need to know that when purchasing cigarettes it is a commitment, normally a lifelong commitment to the tobacco industry. As they say, “’til death do us part”.
Smoking should be illegal. Adults, nor young people should be allowed cigarettes. Young people are influenced by adults in their everyday lives. Adults have the most impact on young lives and they should be positive role models. If young people see adults smoking they are led to think that it is okay or ‘cool’. The ‘cool’ factor is portrayed in movies and on television shows. The media influences people by having actors/actresses appear to be smoking, however the cigarette may merely be a prop. Often the young are convinced that there is no harm in smoking cigarettes. They believe that they may be immortal. Consequently, smoking should be illegal.
Education can also play a key factor in discouraging smoking at a young age. Educators cannot wait until young people are in high school to start teaching them the effects of smoking. It needs to be taught at a younger age.
I don’t believe that smoking should be made illegal all together. I have friends that smoke and although I wouldn’t smoke myself I don’t judge the people who want to.
Smoking is of course deadly and very bad for you. I think that schools need to take a much more active approach to educating children and the younger they start that education the better. By the time schools are holding assembly’s telling kids not to smoke its more often than not to late. I knew children as young as 11 who had already started smoking.
Children are so exposed to smoking because of media and the adults need to act quickly. If you’re starting the education about smoking when they are teenagers you’re too late.
I feel that smoking should be made an illegal activity all together, however, I do not believe this is realistic option from an economic standpoint. Since the government will not ban the use of cigarettes due to the large profit made, they should use some of that profit to educate teenagers.
We are part of a generation that is becoming more and more consumed by technology, which means that the best way to inform young adults is through the media. The article clearly outlines that “Joe Camel” increased the sale of cigarettes – why not use a similar mascot to decrease the sale of cigarettes? Also, instead of using special promotions to incline teens to buy cigarettes, use promotions (ie. a prize such as an iPad) to incline teens to quit smoking. For most teens, technology is as addictive as nicotine, meaning that an expensive new gadget would be worth quitting for.
While on the topic of iPads/iPods, creating apps that are Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube accessible could inform young adults about the dangers of smoking through simulations. An interactive smoking sensation app/community could also be made to help those who want to quit smoking. The use of apps and various social networking sites would be a gripping new way to further educate teens, and is available at the tips of their fingers.
As has been mentioned before, education is the best way to prevent smoking. People are informed of the risks of smoking, yet ignore them in order to look cool and feel rebellious. Despite pictures of cancerous lungs being on the cigarette packs themselves, people still light up, which says something about our society putting popularity over health. Most of the blame can go towards the people who choose to smoke, for being too stupid to realize the effects, but in regards the teenagers that aren’t even allowed to smoke in the first place, the parents of said kids should step in and take a stronghold over these children and demand they cannot smoke anymore. Another strategy could be to publicize the the risks of smoking and demonstrate just how bad it is, instead of glamorizing it and making it look cool. However, I think one of the better options is to make smoking altogether illegal. Having said that, this will not solve the problem altogether, as some people will see this as a challenge and still smoke, but it will be a good start to try and become smoke-free
The best way to prevent youth from smoking is education. It is up to educators and parents to raise confident children that know the dangers of smoking and how to make the right choice when a cigarette is offered. Building a young persons confidence in themselves will allow them to turn away from smoking and do what is best for their health. The ads that are directed towards young people will prove ineffective once they learn how to spot that gimmicks and see though them. Yes smoking in movies like Pulp Fiction, Fight Club and Grease looks incredibly cool, but it does not mean that I want to go out and buy a pack. I know the dangers, how costly and gross the habit is and have been raised with the education and confidence to say “no”.
In the end people will continue to smoke; they know the risks but choose to ignore them. It’s their life and their lungs, who are we to say they cannot do as they please to their bodies? All we can do is educate our community to make the best choice for themselves, and hope that the choice is to live smoke free.
To cut down on the rates of smoking, especially in teenagers, I think that smoking should become illegal all together. As of right now, you need to be at least 19 years of age or older to purchase cigarettes. Some teenagers begin to smoke at a young age because it makes them feel rebellious that they cannot go out and get the smokes for themselves. Smoking should become illegal all together because there are a ton of health risks that come with smoking (cancer, lung problems, etc.). The media needs to do something about smoking seeming “cool” in all movies and TV shows, because it makes teenagers want to smoke. If smoking became illegal, it would cut down not only on the number of deaths a year due to smoking, but also to second hand smoking, because there would be no smoking in public.