Feature stories
Smoking has long lost its cool
With the health risks well-known, advocacy efforts are shifting towards the rights of non-smokers to a smoke-free environment.
While British Columbia may boast the lowest provincial smoking rate in Canada at 15% compared to the national average of 18%, more than 600,000 British Columbian smokers continue to put themselves, and those around them, at risk.
"Clearly there is consensus in 2007 that, just like asbestos, exposure to second-hand smoke is harmful at any level and the public must be protected," says Veda Peters, Tobacco Education Coordinator for the BC Lung Association. "So while many more people today use their car cigarette lighters to charge iPods or mobiles than to light up, the 15% who still smoke are putting the health of non-smoking adults and children at risk."
Fifty years ago cigarettes were the epitome of cool. By the 1960s evidence was building to the contrary, but it took until the 1980s for smoking to be broadly recognized as dangerous. "In the eighties more than one in three Canadian adults smoked. Today that's down to less than one in five," said Peters.
Anti-smoking action has successfully shifted the perception of smoking from 'cool' to 'cruel.' Public opinion has been reversed to such a degree that current advocacy efforts are focusing less on well-established health risks to smokers and more on the rights of non-smokers to a smoke-free environment.
"Two thirds of the smoke from a cigarette enters the air around the smoker and contains twice as much nicotine and tar as the smoke inhaled by the smoker," warned Peters. "The toxic chemicals in smoke stick around long after the smoker has put out their cigarette, cigar, or pipe. Smoke gets trapped in hair, skin, walls, fabric, carpet, furniture, and toys. You can't get rid of smoke by sitting near a window, turning on a fan or air purifier."
Smoking is responsible for the deaths of 6,000 British Columbians, and costs the BC economy $2.3 billion, annually.
Help for smokers ready to quit
Fortunately, smokers need not go it alone. The BC Lung Association urges those ready to quit to take advantage of tools available, including smoking cessation products designed to reduce nicotine cravings as well as group or individual counselling.
QuitNow Services are clinically proven web-based and phone (quitline) smoking cessation programs offered FREE-of-charge to all British Columbians ready to quit smoking, as well as to friends and family supporting smokers ready to quit. QuitNow Services are funded by the BC Ministry of Health, managed by the BC Lung Association and supported by QuitNet and Clinidata Corporation.
Quick facts
- Second-hand smoke releases thousands of toxic chemicals into the air, over 50 of which are known to cause cancer. These include benzene, formaldehyde, cadmium and lead.
- Breathing second-hand smoke for even a short time can have immediate adverse effects, cuasing physical reactions linked to lung disease, heart disease, strokes and cancer. In children, second-hand smoke is even more harmful because their lungs are still developing and are more easily damaged.
- Statistics Canada recently reported that nearly one in five children under 12 are exposed to cigarette smoke in cars and one in four are exposed in homes.
- Children of smokers are more likely to have bronchitis and pneumonia, especially during their first year of life, and are more likely to develop asthma and a variety of respiratory infections including pneumonia.
- Second-hand smoke can drift from one residence to another through cracks in walls, doorways, plumbing and electrical systems, heating and air conditioning ducts, and outdoor patios and balconies. This is a major problem for many BC residents living in multi-unit dwellings, especially those who suffer from chronic health conditions such as heart disease, asthma, allergies, diabetes, and respiratory illnesses.
- Smoke-free policies are legal and are no different than policies that ban pets or loud music.
- Smokers are not a protected class under the Canadian human rights legislation and there is no legal right to smoke.