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Access to Tobacco

Brief overview of the topic:

A lot of teens aren’t aware of the laws about tobacco use and possession. Most don’t know that it is against the law for anyone to provide tobacco to youth in Canada. That means that if you give your under 19 year old friend a cigarette, you are breaking the law. (See Facts and Stats)

There are three main ways young people access tobacco in Canada: social sources such as friends and family members, retail sources such as corner stores and gas stations and other retail outlets such as the internet. Studies have shown that if one source becomes difficult to access, youth will turn to another.

You can do a school project on youth access to tobacco as part of subjects such as: Social Studies, Legal Studies and Business Studies.

Here are some ideas and questions to investigate for a school project:

• Find out about the law in your province about tobacco use and possession and compare it to laws in other provinces across Canada and in the United States.
• How aware are people about tobacco laws? Survey your friends and family and report on the results.
• Write a brochure or make a post on your blog or school website that provides details about the tobacco laws in your province.
• Do a study of the main sources where youth obtain tobacco in your community. Compare your results with the stats provided in the facts and stats section.
• Interview the owner of a retail store about sales to minors. Talk to teen store clerks about their experience selling tobacco. Have they been approached by other teens? If so, what have they done?
• Are vending machines legal in your community? If not, find out how and why they were banned.
• Investigate if Ontario’s retail display ban has affected the income of small corner stores and other retailers in your community.
• What are some of the health impacts of a retail display ban?  Is it possible to estimate how many lives may have been saved?