Decoys planned Stores still selling cigs to teens A TEENAGE girl walks into a gas stalion and buys a pack of cigarettes. The store clerk doesn’t ask for proof of her age, and the people standing in line behind her don’t seem to notice what's just happened. What has happened is that relailer has just broken a provincial law prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to people under the age of 19. Across B.C,, about 30 per cent of mer- chants regularly ignore this law, Here in the northwest, that figure is tikely higher, estimates Ron Craig, manager of health protection and safely for the Skecna Health Unit. As of September last year, the health unit has had the power to issue tickets to relailers not complying with the legislation. A first offense results in a fine of $200. Retailers have 30 days to appeal the ticket. If that same business is caught selling cigareltes to minors again within five years of the first offense, the health unit can pre- vent that business from selling cigarelles for three months. “Tt will have a significant impact on their business,’’ says Craig. “I'll be quite a hardship for a vendor,”’ So far the health unit has focused on making sure that businesses which sell cigarettes are aware of the legislation. Now, says Craig, the health unit will start doing compliance checks. That includes hiring leens as decoys to check whether or not a specific store will sell cigarettes to them. ‘We have a short list of premises we’re concerned about,” says Craig. High schools and community groups can also do their own compliance checks, adds Russell Seltenrich, an environmental health officer. They can then pass the results of Peer pressure is the problem these surveys onto the health unit. Or if a member of the public sees a store selling cigarettes to someone who looks un- derage, be or she can note the date and the store, and pass the information along, If that person is willing 10 be used as a wit- ness, their information could result in a licket being issued. Otherwise the health unit does its own compliance check based on the informalion. No teens have been hired yet, due to a lemporary hiring freeze in the health minis- Iry, but Craig hopes to start using decoy leens soon, — These teens will be trying to buy cigarettes. throughout the entire health region, from the Charlottes to Houston, and from Kemano to Atlin. There's a reason why the health unit is focusing so much on sales of cigarettes to minors. “Studies have shown that if you don't start smoking by age 19, than you never will,’ says Craig, ‘‘People over the age of 25 aren’t targeted by advertisers,’” he says, That's because once the tobacco companies hook someone, they know they’ve got them. The addiction is a very powerful one. Studies have shown that cigarettes are more addictive than heroine or cocaine, says Craig. That addiction is costing B.C. taxpayers an estimaled $1.5 billion a year to treat smoking-related illnesses. That’s more than 20 per cent of the health ministry's budget, taken up by discases which are completely preventable. “That's a lot of money for three million people to support,’ says Craig. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 24, 1996 - AS Twist of fate DOCTORS have known for a long time that the decision to quit smoking can save some- one’s life. For Chris Jennings that may literally have been truc, Jennings was involved in a scrious accident on his way to Prince Rupert in the fall of 1990, It was a rainy day and there was a lot of water on the road. When Jennings pulled cut to pass ascmi trailer, he saw anoth- er truck coming towards him. “f braked too hard, spun out, went over the bank, and landed in 12 feet of water.” Jennings’s passenger got out, but Jennings was sluck wun- derwater for 10-12 minutes be- fore rescuers could free him, “Tl wasn’t breathing and { had no heartbeat.” Jennings ended up in Van- couver, where he remained in a coma for three days, Since then Jennings appears to have recovered fully from the accident, lo the amazement of doctors. “T had quit smoking 13 months before the accident,”’ said Jennings. Before then he had been plagued with bronchitis and breathing difficulties, Doctors credited his improved lung capacity for helping to save his life. Jennings has remained a ‘‘non- practicing smoker”’ since then. “Et surprises me. I smoked for 20 years, but I don’t have any lingering desires.” SMOKING AMONG TEENS is on the increase again, more so among teenage girls. Recent statists show that 29 per cent of all teenage girls smoke, compared to 26 per cent of teenage boys. TEENS KNOW how dangerous smoking is, but they’re doing it anyway. That’s the finding of a Canada-wide 1994 Youth Smok- ing Survey, recently released. Among the findings, 70 per cent of. 15 to 19-year-olds cited peer pressure as the most common rea- son why youth start to smoke ‘More than 90 per cent of 10 to 19-year-olds believe that tobacco is addictive and that tobacco smoke can be harmful to the health ‘of non-smokers. An overwhelming majority of both smokers (85 per cent) and JUST THE FACTS Smoking is a growing problem among teenagers. Recent stalistics show that the number of males aged 15-19 ‘who smoke has climbed from 21% to 26%. Those numbers are even higher for females in the same age group. They’ve climbed from 21% to 29%. That’s reason enough to make health care professionals concerned. Take a look at the following statistics: ®, Tobacco smoke kills 38,000 people in Canada each year %, In B.C. tabacco kiils 5,000 people a year ~ & Tobacco is the leading cause of cancer deaths in men and women ®, There are more than 4,000 different chemicals _in tobacco smoke. More than 50 of these are known to cause cancer, & The 5 year survival rate for lung cancer is “only 15% ® The excess risk of coronary heart disease is reduced by 50% after quitting smoking for 1 year. THESE GRADE 10 students fro veediy ead non-smokers (83 per cent) agree that billboards and signs for events sponsored by tobacco companies are ways of advertising cigarette brands. This is the first national survey to look at the prevalence of smok- ing among youth aged 10 to 14. Seven per cent of both males and females in this age group smoke, The survey also found that 23 per cent of males and 24 per cent of females aged..15 to 19 are Smokers. The ‘results indicale a prevalence of smoking about the ‘Tobacco Control blueprint,” said same as in 1991. Prevalence -smokers. m Skeena Junior Secondary were part of a panel discussion on smoking that grade 8 students attended last week. They cautioned the younger students not to start smoking, ranges from a low of 19 percent in Saskatchewan to a high of 28 per cent in Newfoundland. As well, 59 per cent of males and 54 percent of females aged 10 to 19 feel that it is easy to buy cigarettes, ‘*These survey results have strengihened my resolve to pursue the tougher restrictions on self- service tobacco product displays, What’s Your Poison? When you smoke you inhale up to 4000 Hydrogen Cyanide chemicals including (Poison used in gas these poisons: chambers) Acetone (Paint stripper) 4-Aminobipheny] ®&, The risk of heart attack drops to normal! levels 3 years after quitting smoking ® After 5 years quitting smoking, risk of bladder cancer and cancers of the oral cavity and esophagus drop by 50%. The risk of cervical -cancer substantially declines, and the risk of smoke returns to the same level as non- @, After 10 years of quitting smoker, the risk of lung cancer drops 50-70% & After 15 years of quitting smoking, the risk of dying is similar to persons who never smoked Dimethylnitrosamine Nicotine Cadmium (Used in car batteries) Carbon monoxide (Poisonous gas in car exhausts) Benzopyrene Vinyl Chloride ——— (Makes PVC) mail order sales and in-store Mercury promotions and tobacco company Urethane sponsorships, as oullined. inthe ~°* so urls Lead Health Minister Diane Marleau, ‘ (in dus “iat ene ol Arsenic Benzene (White ant poison) Dibenzacridine Phenol Formaldehyde DDT (Insecticide) It’s enough to make you sick. Very sick. CANADIAN | SOCIETE CANCER CANADIENNE SOCIETY DU CANCER Y Teens told not to start GET ‘EM while they’re young. That’s the philosophy behind much cigarette advertising, That’s because a kid hooked on smoking before the age of 19 can become a lifetime customer, Now that same ‘‘get ‘em while they're young’’ philosophy is being used by doctors and health care professionals. Statistics show that if someone doesn’t start smoking by age 19, they likely never will, With that in mind, Crispina Cote, a nurse at Mills Memorial Hospi- tal, helped organize a presentation last week to grade 8 students from Skeena Jr. Secondary, Dr. David Bowering, the medical director of the Skeena Health Unit, spoke fo the students about the ways smoking companies try to make it appear as though smoking was a normal, even cool, activity, “It’s a disease,”’ said Bowering. “And it’s going to kill more of you silting here than any other dis- ease I know of”? He lold the teens that smoking was by far the leading cause of death, before the age of 70, for both men and women. He also advised teens who smoked not to lend or offer cigarettes to their friends. «'You’re just working for the to- bacco companies when you do that.’’ Next to speak was Dr. M. Kenyon, an internist at Mills Memorial hospital. Smoking is one of the leading causes behind coronary disease, he said, And he’s secing younger and younger patients who’ve had heart attacks, most recently a 23-year- old smoker. Smoking also increases some- one’s chances of hardening their arteries, leading to problems with their lower limbs, and significantly increases the risk of stroke. “Smoking is the biggest single preventable health factor,’* said Kenyon. Lung cancer and chronic lung discase are also (he result of sraok- ing fora number of years. Having chronic lung disease is like drowning for five or ten years, said Kenyon. ‘“That’s what it feels like.”’ Siudents also had a [first-hand chance to learn what lung cancer looked like. Dr. Enriquez, a pathologist with the hospital, showed slides of discased lungs he had taken from autopsy patients — many whom had died of lung can- cer, Finally the students were given a little good news by pharmacist Eric Durando. He told students about nicotine gum and nicotine patches, two techniques to help smokers butt out for good. “*Eighty per cent of people who start smoking end up getting hooked,”’ he said. Compare those figures to the success rates of those who try to quit. People who try to quit cold lurkey are only 15 per cent likely lo succeed. Those using nicotine patches or gum have a 30 per cent chance to kick the habit, “‘The best thing to do is not to slart,’’ Durando advised the audience of 13-15 year olds.