TBDHU supported the roll-out of changes to the Smoke Free Ontario Act (SFOA) among other activities undertaken in 2015 to help decrease smoking in the district.
As of July 1, 2015, the SFOA (a provincial law) was revised to now ban smoking on all restaurant and bar patios, at sports fields and at least 20 metres from playgrounds to further reduce exposure to second-hand smoke.
“The result is more healthy outdoor spaces to enjoy,” says Janice Piper, Manager of Injury Prevention, Substance Misuse and Tobacco at the TBDHU.
What’s really interesting is that some organizations went beyond the requirements of that law. The City of Thunder Bay, the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition and the Thunder Bay Blues Fest all chose to make their events smoke-free.
“It was quite a show of leadership and commitment to our community’s health to have the organizers decide to eliminate smoking all together or to designate smoking-areas away from programming. We hope other events follow suit,” notes Piper. “We supported these organizations in developing their smoke-free policies and we provided educational signage for use at outdoor events.”
Other initiatives conducted by the TBDHU also helped to support compliance to the SFOA. The TBDHU tests tobacco retailers to ensure that they are not selling tobacco to those under the age of 19. Results from the test shopping program in 2015 showed an 8% increase in vendor compliance over the previous year. Piper said the reasons for the improved compliance could be attributed to the education provided by Tobacco Enforcement Officers to retailers about how to correctly identify the age of a shopper based on their ID, the importance of not selling to minors, and the potential legal impact on businesses for non-compliance.
“The smoking rate in Thunder Bay District is higher than the provincial average. It’s really important to have the combination of policies and education with legislation to try to lower those rates and prevent young people from taking up smoking.”