Fewer school-aged students are smoking cigarettes, according to a University of Toronto (U of T) report released Feb. 12.
The Smoke-Free Ontario Strategy Monitoring Report found the rate of Ontarians 12 and older who identify as current smokers decreased from 23 per cent in 2000 to about 19 per cent in 2008. But this rate has somewhat plateaued since then and has remained at 18 per cent for about five years.
The report was produced by the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit (OTRU) at U of T’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. The study aimed to demonstrate the progress being made toward lowering smoking rates and to analyze policies and programs that help bring about a decline.
Six per cent of Grade 11 and 12 students said they had smoked within the past 30 days in 2013, down from 12 per cent in 2005, the study revealed.
But smoking rates remain high among post-secondary students, according to OTRU executive director Robert Schwartz, who co-authored the report. The study found that one in four Ontarian adults aged 20-29 are smokers.
“The transition out of high school to university and college is an opportunity for young people to experiment,” Schwartz said.
As a result, he said the use of tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs tends to spike in post-secondary years. Schwartz said campuses are a crucial place to reduce tobacco use.
“Smoke-free campuses on university and colleges in my view, is a no-brainer,” he said.
In August 2013, Memorial University banned smoking on its campus, citing the negative effects of second-hand smoke. First stages of the ban began in 2011, with students not being able to smoke in doorways.
The Ontario government also funds Leave the Pack Behind, a tobacco control program that works directly with universities and colleges in the province, providing resources for preventing and stopping smoking.
In November 2013, the provincial government also introduced the Youth Smoking Prevention Act, which if passed will limit the sale of tobacco products on post-secondary campuses.
“The government believes that reducing the density of tobacco retail outlets . . . will help keep young people from starting or continuing to smoke,” Ministry of Health and Long Term Care spokesperson David Jensen said via email.
He said the government’s proposal “addresses a critical transition period when experimental to regular smoking for youth can occur.”
Other key findings of the study showed that addiction is an issue with current smokers.
The report found that of the 7.6 per cent of Ontarians who quit smoking for over 30 days in 2013, 79 per cent relapsed.
A result is a growing popularity for e-cigarettes, an electronic device that simulates tobacco smoking, Schwartz said. Its effectiveness is still up for debate.
“Evidence is not conclusive at this point in time,” Schwartz said. “There’s a fear that it may in the end be a gateway to smoking cigarettes.”
Schwartz said more education, restrictions on outdoor smoking, and reducing its availability are effective tools to combat smoking.
