$9 Billion Revenue On Smokers - Canadian Gov. Laughing All The Way to The Bank

First off, this is not a bash on smokers or an anti-smoking campaign. I am a smoker. I can't say I am a proud smoker... I don't think any smoker is proud that they smoke. For one reason or another, most probably because it looked "cool", we started smoking. I enjoy smoking and do so too much to quit at the moment, but I am getting there. But, what exactly is the Canadian Government doing to help us stop other than collecting $9 billion of taxes from the $16 billion spent annually by Canadians on tobacco products?

Yes, you read that correctly. $9 billion dollars is what the Government of Canada (GOC) reaps in on the $16 billion sale of tobacco products every year. Just think, if we all suddenly quit smoking, the GOC would be scrambling on how to recover the loss of this revenue, and taxes on everything else in our lives would soar. So, do you really think the GOC is going to do everything they can to stop tobacco product use? Statistics Canada reports that 45,000 Canadians die each year from cigarette smoking out of the 3.9 million that smoke. There are currently 4.6 million Canadians using tobacco products in total. And back in May of 2018, the GOC announced a new Tobacco Strategy to cut these numbers to less than 5% using tobacco products by throwing $330 million, over the next 5 years, to offer awareness and support for the use of less harmful products and prevent youth from temptation of nicotine and tobacco use start-up. $330 million over 5 years out of the $45 billion they will receive over 5 years through taxes. Yeah.

For some reason, the government tends to focus on Nicotine as the danger substance and not any of the 600 additives that are put into cigarettes, of which almost 100 of them are toxic and are known to cause cancer. Then, when smoked, over 7000 toxic chemicals are produced by its burn that are even more harmful. Here is a list of the most dangerous according to the American Lung Association:

Many of the compound additives (not so much the chemical additives) are approved by the FDA for food consumption, some of which are natural oils, flavourings etc. However, when these oils and other additives are burned, they are toxic. And yet, there has not been enough study on this to prove so. How convenient. One of the ways the GOC is helping us quit and stopping youth from starting smoking is to strip all tobacco packaging from any logos or distinctive designs and legislate they all must be plain packaged and drab in colour, so as not to distract from the anti-smoking and health warning pictures and messages plastered on 3/4 of the package. Apparently, cigarette packs were too "glitsy" and "pretty", behind all those warnings, and were attracting us and youth to smoke or start smoking. Ummm, yeah....that was the problem. The packaging is so pretty that I just had to start smoking. Do they really think that youth today are seeing cigarette packs and saying 'oh wow, that looks appealing...I suddenly want to take up smoking! Pictured below is my current pack (the last one before the plain packaging is a must) but please be careful in looking at it, it's so pretty you might start smoking!

It's not like the youth can even see the packs in stores either as another legislation, implemented in 2007, banned the display of tobacco products "in plain sight" and such products must be hidden from view. So is it the packaging they see other smokers have or might it just be the people smoking that they see, just as I did in the "cool" area outside in high school, for the reason they may start up smoking? Yeah, that packaging wouldn't make me smoke either. The plain packaging is also suggested as a deterrent to current smokers as the urge to smoke will be much less as it is dull looking and not appealing. Prior packaging (such as mine in photo above) is supposedly misleading in that some cigarettes are less harmful when using light coloured packaging or using the words "light". Seriously? Yet, there are lots of products out there such as stickers you can put over your pack or cigarette cases that are elegant and pleasant to look at so you can start up smoking once again.

Even when these picture warnings were put on our cigarette packs, smokers didn't let it deter them one bit and those that were "grossed out" by some of the pictures, they just put their cigarettes in something else or put one of those fun stickers on their packs. These warnings do absolutely nothing and frankly, are a complete waste of money. In actual fact, I might be giving more thought to quitting if they put on warnings of how much money a smoker is burning away each month or a bold quote of gloating how much the government is making off me buying cigarettes on an annual basis! And, by hiding these packs in closed cupboards behind the counter, how are any of these warnings stopping teens from starting up smoking?

Independent tests and studies that the government has initiated regarding this, all support that it is working effectively. And even further to this, many support raising the taxes even further to help smokers quit and stop youth from starting. I guess this course of action just puts more money in the bank for them in hopes that smokers will just give up smoking in frustration of it becoming too expensive? David Hammond, an expert on Tobacco Control Policy and professor at University of Waterloo was quoted in a CBC news article as saying:

Over the past 2 years, according to statistics Canada, there has been an increase of tobacco use rather than a decline. This is probably due to the media's attention on the harmful affects of Vaping and e-cigarettes. They can be more deadly than smoking cigarettes themselves with tainted products and with the complete lack of regulations surrounding the products. There seems to be no safe alternative hence, rising tobacco use. While the commitment of $330 million under the Liberal Government had been put in place to help assist people in quitting, Doug Ford seems to be reversing some of that with cuts and defunding programs that were aimed to help smokers quit. One of these programs, Leave The Pack Behind, announced they were ceasing operations after cuts of $1 million that the Ministry of Health & Long Term Care funded. This can also be a cause of the sudden incline of tobacco use.

On a side note, since we are on the topic of smoking, I just have to mention the ridiculous ban on public smoking. Don't get me wrong, I hate to offend anyone with my smoking. I am all for banning smoking in all public places. However, privately owned places such as restaurants, bowling alley's, bars, pool halls, hotels etc; should be able to have the right to have a smoking permitted building. For example, if I owned a bar and want to offer my business as "smoking friendly", I should have the right to do so. Non smokers do not need to come and risk their health - as it is a bar for smokers. And the employees are smokers. If it is a stand-alone building and not connected to another premises (for ventilation reasons) why can I not have a smokers bar? It makes no sense. We should be allowed to have an establishment (at least 9 meters away from any public building or area LOL) that is just for smokers. Its bringing no harm to any non smoker. In 2006, the Smoke-Free Ontario Act kicked in, banning all smoking in any area open to the public. Prior to 2004, these public places were smoke free but were allowed to have fully enclosed, separately ventilated smoke areas. After businesses were forced to spend all the money for separate enclosed smoking areas, in just a couple years, the government forced everywhere to be smoke-free and all enclosed areas in public needed to be removed. That was entirely unfair to the owners and the smokers. If a private establishment wants to serve only smokers then where is the harm to the public? But, I digress.

Smoking is a disgusting habit. And yes, it is extremely harmful - no argument there. But should there not be more of a focus on changing the product to make it safer and less harmful or funding to strive to develop safer alternatives? Raising the cost and taxes, profiting further on the slow demise of people that use the products and reinvesting a fraction on advertising and support programs that slap your wrist to not smoke are not working. Why are we not going after the product itself? Slapping warnings on the product isn't helping either. How is it that cigarettes are not considered an illegal drug? We seem to be smart enough to be banning everything that is harmful to our health these days in other areas of our lives yet, banning "cancer sticks" seems to be not the way to go - because it's too much of a money maker. We legalized marijuana because we realized there were no real health risks after years of study. But after years of study of tobacco use proving to be deadly, we will not ban it. We will just profit off it. As I stated at the beginning, I am not proud that I smoke. It is awful and I wish I had never started. And when I think back to my first attempt at smoking, it wasn't enjoyable. But, it seemed "cool". And the more I did it, the more the nicotine got me hooked. Several years back I did quit. And in order to be successful at quitting, you have to have the proper mindset to quit and want to quit. I was at this point in my life. But, a year later, I worked in a high stress environment, surrounded by smokers, and I gave in to the temptation. I still enjoy it. Pictures of tumors, rotten teeth or holes in peoples throat on my cigarette pack are not helping me quit. That is how powerful a hold smoking has on us.

We ban horrible and deadly addictive drugs like heroin, crack, acid, LSD, methamphetamine....the list goes on, How are cigarettes any different? Smoking cigarettes stimulates the brain's production of chemicals called opioids. The opioids are known to play a role in soothing pain, increasing positive emotions, and creating a sense of reward. Both morphine and heroin trigger this exact same chemical flow. I seriously hope my children do not ever take up smoking. I seriously hope that my children never have the opportunity to take it up as I hope cigarettes don't exist by that time. The government's aim to stop youth from taking up smoking and getting current smokers to quit, needs to be more along the lines of banning the sale of cigarettes. And to help ween us off, they can offer detoxifying, counseling , and therapy clinics just as they do for methamphetamine addicts. Now that would be a smarter investment.