“A Canadian dies every 12 minutes of tobacco related disease” (Healthy Living, 2004, n.p.).

According to the Canadian lung association (2006) “each day, between 82,000 and 99,000 young people around the world start smoking…(and)almost 20% of Canadian teens (aged 12-19) currently smoke (daily or occasionally)” (n.p.).

The BC Ministry of Health (2006) states that “tobacco-related illness is the leading cause of preventable death in BC.

Tobacco use causes up to 6,000 deaths in BC each year. The facts show smoking kills more people in BC than all other drugs, motor vehicle collisions, murder, suicide and HIV/AIDS combinded”(n.p.).

“Studies indicate that every day, nearly 3,000 teenagers experiment with their first cigarette. Some begin as early as [the] age [of] 8, with the majority being between the ages of 12 to 14” (Youth Smoking Prevention Program, 2006, para1).

o Every 11 minutes, a Canadian dies from tobacco use.

o Every 10 minutes, two Canadian teenagers start smoking cigarettes; one of them will lose his/her life because of it.

o Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS), collected data between February and June 2006: just over 4.5 million people, representing 18% of the population age 15 years and older, were current smokers.

o 14% of Canadians aged 15 years and older reported smoking daily and they smoked an average of 15.4 cigarettes per day.

o Approximately 20% of males age 15 years and older were current smokers, slightly higher than the proportion of females (15%).

o In 2004-05, 21% of youth in grades 5 through 9 had ever tried any type of tobacco product.

References:
Canada. The Daily. (2006, June). Canadian Community Health Survey: New data on smoking and on diabetes. Retrieved
October 19, 2006, from Statistics Canada web site http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060613/d060613a.htm

Canada. BC Ministry of Health. (2006, June). Tobacco control program. Retrieved
October 19, 2006, from http://www.healthservices.gov.bc.ca/tobacco/

Canada. Healthy Living. (January, 2004). The Scoop: What’s the deal with smoking? Retrieved October 30, 2006, from
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/tobac-tabac/youth-jeunes/scoop-primeur/index_e.html.

Youth Smoking Prevention Program. (2006). Why Kids Smoke. Retrieved October 22, 2006, from
http://www.keepkidsfromsmoking.com/talkingToKids_why.asp.