Change in Tobacco and Alcohol Laws Discouraging Selling to Minors

On August 7 a group of people from the Chatham Seventh-day Adventist Church are going to our city counsel to make a presentation in hopes of getting a Mayoral Proclamation about protecting young people from the detrimental effects of smoking and drinking.

Are there any changes you'd like to see in laws about selling of tobacco and alcohol?

How are things in your communities? Are laws being enforced or are young people continuing to be influenced and addicted by the efforts of big alcohol and big tobacco?

Please give me some ideas on this subject--they could turn things around in this country.

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You have done many good things for me, Lord, just as you promised. I believe in your commands; now teach me good judgment and knowledge. Psalm 119:65-66 NLT

First of all, if someone wants soemthing bad enough, they will get it. As in the case of drugs, I don't believe more "laws" are neccesarily the answer.

I do believe there should be harsh punishment to those supplying minors with drugs/tabacco.

And also, hit the youth where it hurts... Drivers lisence. You drink, you lose your lisence. Plain, simple, clean cut.

Unfortunately Jason, that wouldn't stop them either. When my daughter took driver's education, she learned that almost all of her fellow students were already driving regularly, without licenses.

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The Lord is the strength of my life and my portion forever.

Hello Andrew, I just came across something you might find encouraging as well as interesting. Health Canada surveys now show 72 percent of young people aged 15-19 are non-smokers and they say the numbers are growing every year. Kids are getting the message.

Amen, Rick!

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In His Love, Mercy & Grace

Daryl

Today 1 in 6 Canadians dies from tobacco-related causes. I hope the new statistics will mean a healthier future.

One cause of concern, though, is that among teenage girls and young mothers, the smoking stats aren't as favourable.

Some causes? Movies tend to often show "independant" women smoking. Women's magazines have dozens and dozens of articles on breast cancer vs. only a few (2 in one year to be exact) about lung cancer, which kills more women than breast cancer.

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The great ships are safe in the harbour, but that's not what they were built for.

quote:

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Originally posted by Andrew Marttinen:
Some causes? Movies tend to often show "independant" women smoking. Women's magazines have dozens and dozens of articles on breast cancer vs. only a few (2 in one year to be exact) about lung cancer, which kills more women than breast cancer.

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Many of those magazines also earn money by selling advertising space to tobacco companies who advertise heavily in many women's magazines. How can a magazine that endorses tobacco use through sales ads then turn around and warn about the dangers of tobacco? At least a few women's magazines have had the courage to refuse such ads. All of them need to.

According to the latest statistics, Canadian Youth smoke less, drink more and their drug use is steady. Here's a writeup about it from the Toronto Star:

For the first time in a decade, drug use among Ontario youth didn't increase last year but it remains higher than during the 1990s, suggested a survey released today by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

"The escalating trend in drug use, which began in the early 1990s, has generally subsided," said Dr. Edward Adlaf, senior scientist at the centre.

"The '80s were a period of decline of drug use, the '90s had a resurgence and in 2001, the good news is that illicit drug use among youth isn't growing. The bad news is it's still higher than it was in the early '90s," Adlaf said.

The number of youth who smoke cigarettes was at the lowest since 1977, when the surveys, which are conducted every other year, began.

In 2001, 24 per cent of students in Grades 7 through 13 said they were smokers. In 1999, the number was 29 per cent.

"We're very pleased that smoking has declined among Ontario students," said Andrea Stevens, a representative at the centre.

Stevens said she believes the many national, provincial and community tobacco-prevention initiatives, including anti-smoking by-laws, have contributed to the decline.

But there was no significant drop in the overall number of students who use illicit drugs, and use of the drug ecstasy rose to seven per cent from two per cent among Grade 9 students.

The 2001 Ontario Student Drug Use Survey also revealed that heavy drinking remains a problem among youth, with the percentage of youth who get drunk increasing to 27 per cent in 2001 from 17 per cent in 1993. The number of youth who reported binge drinking — having five or more drinks at a time — rose to 25 per cent in 2001, from 18 per cent eight years ago.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health surveyed 4,211 students in spring 2001.

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The great ships are safe in the harbour, but that's not what they were built for.

What the report says is that 1 in 4 youth from grades 7-13 smokes. This is still a national disaster!

As for the alcohol--our generation is hemorraging...

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The great ships are safe in the harbour, but that's not what they were built for.