Smoke-Free Ontario - Actions and Health Effects

Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable disease and death in Ontario, killing more than 13,000 Ontarians every year.  Tobacco-related diseases cost the Ontario economy $1.6 billion in direct health care costs, resulting in $4.4 billion in productivity losses.

In 2005, the McGuinty government launched the Smoke-Free Ontario Strategy, which focuses on:

• Initiatives aimed at young people to encourage them not to smoke,
• Protection from exposure to second-hand smoke, and
• Programs to help smokers quit.

By working closely with a broad range of partners, the Smoke-Free Ontario Strategy has become widely recognized as one of the most comprehensive in North America. It funds programs provided by Ontario's 36 Public Health Units, as well as major governmental and non-governmental health agencies in Ontario, including: Canadian Cancer Society, Ontario Division; Cancer Care Ontario; Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario; Ontario Lung Association; Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres; and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Regulating cigarillos builds on the government's previous efforts to create a smoke-free Ontario, and protect people from second-hand smoke through legislation.

The Smoke-Free Ontario Act came into force on May 31, 2006, and prohibits smoking in all enclosed workplaces and enclosed public places. The Act strengthens measures to ensure only those 19 and older can buy cigarettes and it phased out the display of tobacco products with a complete ban that began on May 31, 2008.

• The display of tobacco products is not permitted in any manner that allows consumers to view the products prior to purchase. The ban is aimed at reducing impulse buying triggered by power walls, in order to prevent youth from smoking and to help smokers quit.
• Compliance with the Smoke-Free Ontario Act (SFOA) is at very high levels, with 99 per cent of restaurants and bars, considered smoke-free.
• Ninety-eight per cent of tobacco vendors are compliant with the ban on display of tobacco products, as of July 2008.
• Public Health Units have conducted 170,000 educational visits regarding the SFOA to tobacco vendors, bars, restaurants and workplaces, and have laid more than 11,000 charges as of April 2010.

Protecting Children from Second-Hand Smoke:

• On January 21, 2009, a new law prohibiting Ontarians from smoking in motor vehicles with passengers under 16 came into effect. Under the law, a driver or passenger smoking in a motor vehicle, while someone else under the age of 16 is present, is committing an offence, and can be fined up to $250.
• Children exposed to second-hand smoke are more likely to suffer Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more severe asthma.

Helping Ontarians Quit Smoking:

• More than 1.25 million smokers have been helped by ministry-funded initiatives between 2005 and 2009.
• Call volumes to the Smokers' Helpline have been increasing annually. More than 17,000 callers accessed the Smokers' Helpline in 2008/09. In addition more than 8,000 people registered for the Smokers' Helpline Online personalized and interactive quit program.
• Since 2006, the Driven to Quit Challenge has helped more than 79,000 Ontario smokers to make a quit attempt.
• The STOP (Smoking Treatment for Ontario Patients Study) administered through the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, has reached more than 60,000 smokers to help increase their odds of quitting, by providing counselling and free nicotine replacement therapy.

Health Effects of Smoking:

• Compared to non-smokers, men who smoke are about 23 times more likely to develop lung cancer and women who smoke are about 13 times more likely to develop lung cancer. Smoking causes about 90 per cent of lung cancer deaths in men and almost 80 per cent in women. Lung cancer is lethal, with a 5-year survival rate of only about 15 per cent.
• Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths.
• Smoking is also a known cause of heart disease, stroke, and diseases of the vascular system. Smoking-related cardiovascular disease is responsible for more than 4,000 deaths in Ontario annually.
• Tobacco use is responsible for 80 to 90 per cent of all cases of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Health Effects of Second-hand Smoke:

• Second-hand smoke causes disease and death. No scientific authority or regulatory health body in the world has established a safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke.
• Second-hand smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, of which more than 50 are known or suspected carcinogens. Second-hand smoke has been classified as a known human carcinogen by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer, the U.S. National Toxicology Program, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
• Never-smoking spouses of smokers have an increased risk of lung cancer of between 20 per cent (for women) and 30 per cent (for men). Risks to highly exposed groups, such as hospitality workers, may be much greater.