1 in 2 student smokers reported

attempting to quit at least once in the

previous year

of Ottawa students in grades 7 to 12 reported

they smoke

3 in 5 students reported they felt it would be very to fairly easy to get cigarettes

7%*

93%of students reported they

disapproved of adults smoking one or more packs of cigarettes per day

This Youth Facts outlines what Ottawa youth in grades 7 to 12 reported about their tobacco use, as well as their attitudes and beliefs toward tobacco use. It also provides information about what Ottawa Public Health (OPH) is doing and the ways we can help.

• Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of disease and death.

• The financial cost due to smoking-related illness is almost $40 million per year for Ottawa residents.

• In 2001, the City of Ottawa enacted smoking by-laws in addition to following strict provincial smoking laws. Over time the adult and youth daily smoking rates in Ottawa have decreased notably.

• In 2012 the City of Ottawa enacted outdoor smoking by-laws to further reduce outdoor second-hand smoke in public places.

To learn more about this Youth Facts topic and others, see www.ottawa.ca/healthreports. An accessible version is also available.

Youth Facts is a series that describes Ottawa results from the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS). It was conducted during the 2010/11 school year in the public and Catholic school systems.

Tobacco: Prevention, Cessation, Protection

Youth Facts 2011

Youth Facts Tobacco 2

13%* 14%*

32% 34%

OPH develops campaigns and uses social media that brings attention to the tobacco industry tactics and highlights the lifelong risks of tobacco use.

Prevention

38% 30% reported they had experimented with cigarettes in their

lifetime (few pu�s to one cigarette)

2011 20095%* 9%

reported they felt that someone would be at medium risk of harming themselves if they

smoked one or two cigarettes per day

38%

Socio-Economic Status (SES)

23%*

High SES Low SES

A student’s understanding of their family’s social standing based on job status, education and income.

Ottawa Ontario

reported they felt that someone would be at great risk of harming

themselves if they smoked one or two cigarettes per day

Prevention includes e�orts to prevent the use of tobacco among youth and exposure to

second-hand smoke.

of students reported they had tried a cigarette at

some point in their lifetime

Current student smokers reported they had begun

smoking by grade 6:

Ottawa Ontario

16% 22% Ottawa Ontario

Youth Facts Tobacco 3

Cessation

of students reported they had used

smokeless/chewing tobacco in their lifetime

of students reported they currently smoke

of students who smoke reported they had tried to quit smoking

at least once in the past year

reported they had never used

smokeless/chewing tobacco in their

lifetime

OPH o�ers smoker’s section, a one-hour workshop for students to learn more about tobacco and smoking and includes strategies to help youth quit tobacco use.

OPH o�ers the iQuit ‘n Win contest in schools, to raise interest in quitting tobacco. Students can receive quit smoking supports in their school such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).

OPH o�ers The Kick Butt for 2 program for pregnant teens and young single parents through St. Mary’s Home, Salvation Army Bethany Hope Centre and Youville Centre.

7%*

6%Ottawa

Ontario

GirlsBoys

Non-immigrant studentsImmigrant students

99%88%

93%97%

Ottawa

57%

Ontario

7%* 9%

50%*

QUITCessation is to support and motivate

youth to quit tobacco.

Ottawa Ontarioreported they were not

daily smokers

Grades 9 to 12

100%Grades7 to 8

95%

Youth Facts Tobacco 4

50%68%

Protection

reported they had smoked contraband cigarettes at least once in the past year

51%60%

34%*

71%

58% 53%

reported they acquired their last cigarette from stores

OPH checks all tobacco retailers to ensure tobacco is not sold to anyone under the age of 19 at point of sale.

OPH works with schools to ensure they are following smoke-free by-laws and o�er students charged with smoking on school property the Alternative Measures Program instead of a �ne.

Ottawa

27% Ontario

GirlsBoys

reported they acquired their last cigarette from friends and family

Ottawa

42% 50%

46%

Ontario

7 to 89 to 12

Students in grades 7 to 12 who smoked...

reported they felt it would be fairly to very easy to get

cigarettes

Grades

64%* 55%

45%

49% 39%

47%

Protection is to decrease access to tobacco products.

Youth Facts Tobacco 5

What other resources to help prevent tobacco use are available in the community?

What can you do to help prevent and decrease tobacco use among youth?

• The Youth Advocacy Training Institute (YATI) provides interactive learning experiences for youth and adults on a variety of topics that help them improve the health of their communities through advocacy, education, and positive youth development. For more information visit: www.youthadvocacy.ca• Dr. Lena’s Clinic for Adolescents is a one-on-one counselling service for teens who wish to quit smoking. This is a free service available in English, and counselling service is available with a referral. Dr. Lena can be reached at 613-737-7119. • The Regional Youth Coalition (RYEC) called Take a Stand brings youth from Eastern Ontario together to work on issues facing youth. For more information visit: www.SmokeFreeEast.ca• Health Canada’s Quit4Life (Q4L) is an interactive and personalized on-line quit smoking site for youth ages 14-19. Visit: http://hc-sc.gc.ca/hc-ps/tobac-tabac/youth-jeunes/index-eng.php

• Encourage youth who smoke to quit.• Repeat non-smoking messages.• Follow Smoke-Free By-laws and provincial laws, such as smoke-free vehicles, outdoor spaces, school smoking bans, and cigarette sales to minors.• Discuss with youth ways to refuse tobacco and give them time to practice saying ‘no’.• Share the fact that tobacco use is not common.• If you smoke cigarettes, ban smoking in the home and speak out against smoking.• Continue to ask for new rules to help reduce the visibility and access of cigarettes.

Resources

The data used in this publication came from the Public Health Monitoring of Risk Factors in the Ontario-OSDUHS Study conducted by Dr. Edward Adlaf and Dr. Robert Mann at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. The contents and interpretation are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the o�cial view of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Acknowledgements

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*A high variability in the responses from students; these �ndings should be interpreted with caution.

Larger fonts indicate a number which is signi�cantly larger.

No signi�cant di�erences were observed between Ottawa and Ontario for any of the indicators.