At the heart of Ontario's smoke-free strategy are two alarming statistics. Tobacco is the number one cause of preventable disease and death, and 1.7 million people over 15 still smoke.
There's also a higher percentage of people in this area smoke than in the rest of the province and there are more people on average exposed to second hand smoke here.
That's why the Sudbury and District Health Unit has decided to tackle the problem in some innovative ways.
"We think our best efforts are spent educating young people," manager of environmental health Shelley Westhaver told board of health members on Thursday.
The health unit not only educates young people about the health effects of smoking, it has young people aged 14 to 18 teaching their peers. Here are some of the projects they're working on:
1. In November, at Silver City Cinemas, young people from the five tobacco control area networks in northeast Ontario will host an event to alert movie goers to the way the silver screen makes cigarette smoking look cool. Read Northern Life to learn the date and time of this event.
2. This summer, members of the youth action alliance incorporated information about the dangers of smoking into warm-up drills done by two girls' soccer teams. The players then had a short discussion about the information and underlying message: "Say no to tobacco and yes to better health."
3. The health unit has purchased at rink board at Sudbury Arena that will remind players and patrons that being tobacco-free is the only way to play.
4. Schools can receive funding from the province if they partner with the health unit on smoke-free strategies.
5. People who take part in tobacco-free workshops get five free weeks of nicotine replacement therapy.
Westhaver admitted she didn't know why local smoking rates are higher.
But board member Les Gamble said he knew one reason. One store, he said, sells cigarettes for $80 a carton and another store two miles down the road sells a carton for $30.
"Young people can afford $30 but they can't afford $80," he said. "That's part of our problem. If everybody was paying $80, the smoking rate would go down."
