Teen activists collected more than 70 cards at the Day of the Dead event at Prairie Gardens in Bon Accord Sunday, in support of a ban on flavoured tobacco products in Alberta.
The high school students are members of a province-wide youth-led campaign working to expose the tobacco industry for targeting youth with flavoured tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars and water pipe tobacco.
Flavours such as menthol, peach, cherry, vanilla, berry, citrus, wintergreen and mint, make tobacco products more appealing to youth, states the campaign.
However, tobacco in any flavour or packaging is addictive.
“I worry that my little sister will get involved with these products because they look like candy,” says youth activist Parakram Chauhan, 16.
“They need to be banned.”
The National Youth Smoking Survey found that an estimated 39,000 high-school aged youth in Alberta currently smoke. Approximately 19,600 Alberta adolescents use flavoured tobacco products.
“I don’t think that tobacco companies should be allowed to make candy flavoured products that appeal to kids because they are just as toxic as other products,” adds Melissa Heddle, 15.
Last November, the Alberta Legislature passed Bill 206 – effectively banning all flavoured tobacco products. The bill has yet to be proclaimed.
Flavour Fraud campaigners hope to keep the pressure on the government until it is proclaimed, says Leigh Mackenzie, youth co-ordinator for the campaign.
The campaign launched province-wide in the spring. Staff go into schools and train youth as activists for the cause.
“We give them leadership and communication skills to go out into the public to talk about the campaign and try to change public health care policy,” says Mackenzie.
In a two-hour session, students are educated on topics including the health effects of tobacco use, as well as social justice issues such as the tobacco industry’s impact on the environment, world hunger and animal cruelty, explains Mackenzie.
More than 70 youth have been trained, including 26 at St. Albert Catholic High School.
“I don’t want youth to become replacement smokers and die from tobacco use,” adds Anne Jorge, 15.
Each day, 100 Canadians die of a smoking-related illness, states Health Canada.
“Tobacco companies create products that appeal to a younger generation, so that when they get hooked younger, they have a longer life span to be buying tobacco products,” adds Kami Van Halst, campaign manager.
Recent changes in government and push-back from more than 20 registered tobacco lobbyists are likely putting a hold on the proclamation of Bill 206, says Van Halst.
There has also been talk of excluding menthol cigarettes from the complete ban on flavoured tobacco, adds Mackenzie.
Health Minister Stephen Mandel was recently under fire by both the NDP and Liberals for saying menthol products may be exempt in the flavoured tobacco ban. He has also been questioned about his ties to registered tobacco lobbyists.
“One in three youth smoke menthol cigarettes. It would leave half of the youth behind with that exemption, so we’re really pushing for menthol to be included,” says Mackenzie.
