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The Youth Smoking Survey shows 49 per cent of Manitoba high school students who smoked in the previous 30 days had used tobacco made to taste like fruit and candy.
Handout, Canadian Cancer Society
Manitoba youth are getting hooked on smoking thanks in part to the continued availability of flavoured tobacco, Canadian Cancer Society officials say in a survey released Monday.
The Youth Smoking Survey shows 49 per cent of Manitoba high school students who smoked in the previous 30 days had used tobacco made to taste like fruit and candy.
“Child-friendly tobacco products are still on the market because tobacco companies found loopholes in federal legislation,” Erin Crawford, the Canadian Cancer Society’s director of Public Affairs, is quoted saying in a news release Monday. “These survey results clearly show there is a compelling need for the Manitoba government to ban all flavoured tobacco products. We need action now to protect young people from getting started using tobacco products.”
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The survey also showed the prevalence of smoking among teens in the province: 13 per cent had smoked cigarettes in the previous 30 days, 18 per cent used some tobacco product in the previous 30 days and nine per cent had used some type of flavoured tobacco product, including menthol cigarettes, in the previous 30 days.
The 2010 federal Tobacco Act prohibits flavours (except menthol) in cigarettes, cigarillos and blunt wraps. The Canadian Cancer Society says tobacco companies have avoided the rules by simply increasing the weight of cigarillos to more than 1.4 grams, which allows them to add flavours.
The Youth Smoking Survey was conducted between October 2010 and June 2011, with 7,471 students participating across Manitoba and 50,949 across Canada.
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