World No Tobacco Day is celebrated every year on May 31. The international theme for this year, set by the World Health Organization,
(WHO) is " Second-hand smoke kills. Let's clear the air". The aim of World No Tobacco day is two-fold: First to stimulate real actions at
the local level (such as bans on smoking in public places), and second, to generate international and local attention to the serious issue
of second-hand smoke.
Pretty much everywhere you go, you are likely to end up near someone who smokes. In Canada, this is true except in municipalities like
Victoria, British Columbia or Waterloo, Ontario. These municipalities have the toughest anti-smoking bylaws in Canada: you cannot light up
anywhere indoors in public places, including restaurants, bars, bingo halls, and many other locations.
Some people call these bylaws another victory in the war against tobacco-related preventable diseases. Others have called them a
violation of human rights. But while smokers might argue that they have the right to harm their own health by smoking, they do not have the
right to harm the health of those around them.
Second-hand smoke is a serious issue. It is much more than an inconvenience or an irritation to non-smokers. It is a public health
hazard. A smoker only inhales about one-third of a cigarette. The rest of the smoke is released into the air and so is the exhaled smoke.
According to James Repace, 'Second-hand smoke contains 43 chemicals that cause cancer'. More than 50% of the Canadian population is
regularly exposed to second-hand smoke.
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To reduce your exposure to second-hand smoke:
- Make your home and car smoke-free.
- If you live with a smoker, be supportive of efforts to quit but be firm about your own right to live in a smoke-free home.
- Ask a smoker to smoke outside but agree to sit outside or go for a walk with her to show you're not rejecting her, just the smoke.
- Enlist a doctor's help. Encouragement from a doctor trained in helping smokers quit doubles the success rate.
- Let every caregiver (including teenage babysitters) know that you don't allow your children to be in smoke-filled environments. That
means no smoking in your home but also no visits to smoky coffee shops.
- Ask about the policy on smoking anywhere that your child spends time: his school, the community centre, and the local arena. Be clear
that your child requires a smoke-free place to play or take lessons.
- Make your workplace smoke-free Take an active role in the development of your company's smoking policy.
Encourage your employer to offer smoking cessation programs for those who want them (Beyond
the smoke-free workplace: the smoke-free workforce).
- Support businesses (restaurants, shopping malls, bars) that are smoke-free.
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Second-hand smoke kills
Although the statistics vary depending on the variables included, there is no doubt that second-hand smoke is responsible for many deaths every year.
- According to Physicians for a Smoke-free Canada, over 3,000 Canadians are killed by second-hand smoke each year (Tobacco
in Canada).
- The U.S Surgeon General, estimated that ETS accounts for 6800 deaths among Californians annually. The health impact of SHS on Canadians
is likely to be at least as great as on Californians (OEHHA:
Air - Environmental Tobacco Smoke).
- Health Canada estimates that approximately 350 lung cancer and 2,000 heart disease deaths are due to second hand smoke, and
approximately 100 children die each year as a result of maternal smoking and exposure to smoke in the home.
Tobacco smoke poses a real and immediate danger to health. Second-hand smoke ranks third as a major preventable cause of death behind
active smoking and alcohol (OMA position paper on second hand smoke).
Second-hand smoke can trigger heart attacks and chest pain (angina) in people with heart conditions (Cardiovascular
Health Effects, Health Effects of Exposure to Environmnental Tobacco Smoke). It also increases breathing problems and asthma attacks,
and can trigger severe allergic reactions (oehha).
Second-hand smoke makes people sick
Second-hand smoke is known to cause cancers and heart diseases in non-smokers. It can cause lung, bladder and liver cancer. Women exposed
to second-hand smoke appear to be more prone to develop breast and cervix cancers (Health
Canada News Release: Breast cancer linked to second-hand smoke).
Sometimes, these diseases are fatal sometimes they are not. But almost always, they are responsible for needless pain and suffering.
Non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke experience higher rates of eye irritation and upper respiratory problems (Health
Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke, OEHHA).
Second-hand smoke is most dangerous to infants, children and the elderly
- Babies exposed to second-hand smoke are more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome / crib death before they reach the age of
one (Second Hand Smoke & Children's Health).
- Smoke-second-hand smoke can impair proper lung development in infants (International
Consultation on Environmental Tobacco Smoke and Children's Health, WHO, 1999).
- Toddlers who live with smokers have more ear infections, breathing problems and are hospitalized more often than those who live with
non-smokers.
- Children who live with smokers are more likely to develop asthma (Health
Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke,OEHHA).
- Adolescents are more likely to take up smoking if they are exposed to second-hand smoke and have role models who smoke in their home and
school environments (The Physical
Environment, Statistical Report on the Health of Canadians).
- Elderly people who live in smoky environments have worse emphysema and bronchitis, than those who live in smoke-free situations.
In contrast to most adults, children frequently have no choice about being exposed to second-hand smoke on a daily basis. Some 48% of
asthmatic children report being regularly exposed to second-hand smoke, particularly in their homes. In assessing the exposure of Canadian
children to smoke in their homes, sociologist Tom Stephens found that:
- 1.6 million children under age 12 are regularly exposed to cigarette smoke at home;
- 33% of all children live in smoky homes; and
- the highest level of exposure is in Quebec (45% of all children, and 94% of children living with a daily smoker) and the lowest is in
British Columbia (23% of all children and 67% of children living with a daily smoker).
Smoking by-laws control tobacco use in public spaces but not in private places such as homes and cars. The only court decisions that have
limited smoking in private places to-date occurred in custody rulings. Just recently, a British Colombia judge protected the health of a
young boy by ruling that his mother could not smoke in the car while he was traveling with her.
Measures to reduce second-hand smoke
Other than banning smoking, public education campaigns are effective tools to reduce exposure to second-hand smoke. One example of this
approach is the new federal law on package warnings. One of the health warnings relates to second-hand smoke exposure. For more information
click on: Health
Canada information backgrounder: Product Information Regulations.
The federal government announced in April 2001 that it will invest over $480 million in Health Canada's tobacco control strategy over the
next five years. Approximately 40% will be allotted to mass-media public education campaigns. Among the messages promoted through this
initiative will be protection from second-hand smoke.
Complementing Canada's
tobacco control strategy Finance Minister Paul Martin's anti-tobacco strategy includes a number of important tax measures - all
designed to support the Government's health objectives and reduce tobacco consumption - particularly among young Canadians
(Government Announces Comprehensive Strategy to Discourage Smoking).
Tobacco control legislation such as smoke-free environments is covered by different jurisdictions: municipal, provincial and federal.
Their common goal is to protect individuals against the harmful effects of second-hand smoke in public places.
In Canada, at least 45 municipalities have bylaws requiring smoke-free restaurants and about 31 have bylaws requiring smoke-free bars.
These by-laws are not all currently in force. Neither do they have the same breadth and depth. For example, the Region of Waterloo has
enacted a by-law with 100% smoke-free public places. The city of Toronto has opted to limit smoking in public places and the city of Ottawa
is in the midst of designing and enacting a 100% smoke-free public places bylaw (Smoke-Free
Ottawa).
Smoke-free legislation
To find out about smoke-free legislation in your community click on the following links:
Smoke-Free Ottawa (municipalities in Canada with smoke-free laws for restaurants)
Smoke-Free Ottawa municipalities in Canada with smoke-free laws for bars)
Provinces have varied bans on smoking in public places. For example:
- In Manitoba, no more than 50% of any restaurant can be designated as a smoking section;
- In Quebec, restaurants with 35 seats or more must provide an "enclosed" and "separately ventilated" smoking area but no door is required.
Smoking will be banned entirely in Quebec restaurants by 2008;
- In Newfoundland: No more than 50% of any restaurant can be designated as a smoking section.
- B.C. had a complete restaurant ban in effect from January to March of this year but it was overturned in the B.C. Supreme Court on a
process technicality.
Some communities have started school-based projects to promote smoke-free-homes.
There is no evidence for a safe exposure level to second-hand smoke. Legislation limited to ventilation design and standards cannot
achieve population health goals towards smoke-free workplaces and public places. To see what you can do to voice your opinion and protect
your health please see the following links:
Further Resources
For more information on tobacco industry tactics, please visit the Denormalization Section, Tobacco Industry page of the
National Clearinghouse on Tobacco and Health
Program website.
Children & second-hand smoke
Outlines the health risks to children from exposure to second-hand smoke. Advises parents to avoid smoking around children.
On the Road to Quitting program
Health Canada
Non-Smokers' Rights Association
Smoking and Health Action Foundation
Physicians for a
Smoke-Free Canada
National health organization of Canadian physicians who share one goal: the reduction of tobacco-caused illness through reduced smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke.
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This article was prepared for the CHN by the 
