Towns given until Friday to act on smoking bylaws

May 27, 2002, (Kenora) – World No-Tobacco Day (WNTD) is Friday, May 31, 2002, and the Northwestern Health Unit is giving municipalities in the Kenora and Rainy River Districts until that date to inform the health unit about how they are going to eliminate indoor second-hand tobacco smoke in their communities. Sponsored by the World Health Organization, WNTD is an annual event intended to raise awareness of tobacco addiction and harm.
This year’s provincial theme is focused on educating the public on the real and significant threat that second-hand tobacco smoke (SHS) poses to public health.
Supported by two decades of evidence, the scientific community now agrees that there is no safe level of exposure to SHS, and those particularly at risk include young children and workers in bars and restaurants that have no smoking restrictions. Health Canada has reported that each year in Canada, about 800 non-smokers die of coronary heart ailments caused by breathing SHS and about 300 non-smokers die of lung cancer caused by SHS exposure. The Ontario Tobacco Research Unit estimates that at least one-third of the deaths occur in Ontario.
In the Northwestern Health Unit area the Township of Ear Falls has passed a smoke-free bylaw that will protect its’ citizens and workers starting September 3rd, 2002. “As the date for the municipalities to reply to the health unit’s Declaration of Health Hazard approaches, there is some indication that there may be other municipalities that will join Ear Falls in leading the way for our region” says Health Unit Health Promoter, Jennifer McKibbon. “ I think Councils are realizing that there is broad community support for such bylaws and they are getting more comfortable making a decision.”
Canadian Centres for Substance Abuse calculates that tobacco costs Ontario’s economy $3.7 billion every year of which $1.1 billion is spent on health care costs to treat disease caused by tobacco. The remaining $2.6 billion represents the impact of tobacco use on foregone income and lost productivity. The provincial government currently takes in $800 million in tobacco taxes. Further, tobacco is the leading cause of preventable ill health and premature death in Ontario, killing 12,000 Ontarians annually, four times more than those who die from car accidents, suicide, homicide, and AIDS combined. Second-hand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death.