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2. The Tobacco Epidemic
Smoking is the #1 cause of preventable death in Newfoundland and Labrador:
1,000 deaths every year
20% of all deaths
90% of all preventable deaths
Half of all smokers will die from their addiction, losing, on average, 15 years of life
Smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in Canada. Preventable, meaning that it does NOT have to happen. One change in behaviour and thousands of lives could be saved.
30% of all cancer deaths are due to smoking
At least 12 different forms of cancer including lung, oral cavity, larynx, kidney, and bladder cancer are directly linked to smoking.
80-90% of all obstructive pulmonary disease… mainly bronchitis, emphysema, and pneumonia – are caused by smoking.
One out of every two smokers will die from their addiction. 2

3. The Tobacco Epidemic The Young Smoker
4,500 children start smoking in this Province every year
The average age for a Canadian youth to start smoking is 12
85% of smokers start BEFORE age 16
Girls are more likely to start smoking than boys
Smoking is a childhood disease. Most people start smoking before they are 16 years old… the average age to start smoking is 12. It is rare for an adult over the age of 19 to start smoking, especially if they have never smoked before. 3

4. Second-Hand Smoke (ETS) and Disease
4,700 – 7,000 Canadians, including over 100 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians die each year from exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS)
ETS increases your chance of lung cancer by 25% and heart disease by 10%. It also increases risk of leukemia and lymphoma, as well as cancer of the sinuses, brain, breast, uterine cervix, and thyroid
Besides causing serious harm to children, ETS is also very dangerous to adults. Between Canadians die each year from exposure to ETS. Included in this number are up to 110 Newfoundlanders. 4

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6. Who is Targeting You? The Tobacco Industry Your peers
Those who want to profit from your smoking
Who is targeting you?
Your peers who try to convince you to smoke.
The person who asks if you want to buy a cigarette. They just want your money!
The Tobacco Industry – the people who produce and market cigarettes MUST replace all of the smokers who die or quit every year. Without new smokers to replace former smokers, the cigarette companies would be out of business in ten years. The most promising replacements are young people. Once a 16 year old starts smoking, they are hooked until they quit or die. That’s a lot of cash in the pockets of the tobacco companies. 6

7. The Tobacco Industry …like no other
Tobacco is the ONLY legal product sold that is lethal when used exactly as the manufacturer intends
World revenues from Canadian tobacco companies total $168 BILLION per year
This is MORE than the individual Gross Domestic Products of 180 of the world’s 205 Countries
There is no other company in the world like it. Cigarettes are designed to get nicotine into your body. The smoke that is produced from the burning leaves contains over 4000 carcinogens – they have been proven to cause cancer – and kill people.
Tobacco companies are some of the richest and most powerful in the world. They are actually richer than 180 of the world’s COUNTRIES. All of this money comes from addicted smokers. 7

8. Tobacco Industry Internal Documents
Truth Revealed
Tobacco Industry Internal Documents
Guildford and Minnesota Depositories set up in 1998
Results of US lawsuits
39 Million pages of documentation
The Guildford Depository was set up as a condition of the legal victories in the US. It contains 6 million pages of the Tobacco Industry’s own documents and, in the industry’s own word’s, shows the decades of deceit and lies.
For more information on the Guildford depository, please visit 8

9. Industry Secret #1: Lie & Deny
Truth Revealed
Industry Secret #1: Lie & Deny
The Agreement between tobacco companies:
Deny the known health effects of tobacco and conceal the known toxicity of tar, nicotine, and other chemicals in their product
Industry documents reveal that in 1977 in Bath, England, the CEO’s of the world’s largest cigarette manufactures met and came to an agreement about the public face that they would put on their industry. Their own scientists had proven that smoking causes cancer, their own research had shown that smoking was killing their best customers and they knew that they had to ensure that the public never found out. 9

10. The Lie…
“…the role, if any, that tobacco or smoking plays in the initiation and development of these diseases is very uncertain. The issue is still unresolved…”
Rob Parker, Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers Council, 1987
“…science has not established that there is a causal relationship between smoking and illness…”
Industry Report, 1987
And lie they have. These are public statements made by the Canadian Tobacco Industry.
These contrast to the truth revealed in their own documents… the truth that they have, in fact, known for a very long time - that cigarettes kill people. 10

11. The Truth…
“…in the case of carcinogens, smoke contains not just one, but a galaxy of them…”
British American Tobacco (Owner of Imperial Tobacco)
“…obviously the amount of evidence accumulated to indict cigarette smoke as a health hazard is overwhelming. The evidence challenging such an indictment is scant…”
1962 internal industry report
While in public they say one thing - their internal documents reveal another, more insidious truth. 11

12. Truth Revealed Industry Secret #2: The Tobacco Industry markets their product to children
Even though theTobacco Industry loses 45,000 customers a year in Canada; even though they must replace those that die (not to mention those that successfully quit) in order to stay in business; and even though they know that adults rarely initiate smoking…. They still claim they have no interest in getting children or youth to start smoking... 12

13. The Lie… “…we do not market to children…”
1994 Statement From the Tobacco Industry
“…we do not, under any circumstances, want kids to smoke…”
1994 Industry Advertising Campaign
Their public face says one thing… 13

14. The Truth… From Industry Marketing Memo Released in Court
But behind the scenes, their true intentions are revealed.
From Industry Marketing Memo Released in Court 14

15. TV & Movies
When you stop and think about it, lighting up on a screen is like showing a celebrity endorsement the size of a billboard – And it works!
Non-smoking teens whose favourite stars smoke frequently on screen are 16 times more likely to develop positive attitudes towards smoking
As tobacco sponsorship comes to an end, because of strict Federal legislation, there will always be the onslaught of images from Hollywood. And it should come as no surprise that the International tobacco industry has an “understanding” with Hollywood. The Tobacco Industry pays to have movie stars smoke, particularly teen-oriented movies and stars. For example…
Sylvester Stallone was paid $500,000 by Brown and Williamson Tobacco to smoke in five of his movies.
$42,000 was paid to the producers of Superman II to have Lois Lane smoke.
Cigarette brand advertising appears in The Muppet Movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Grease, Superman, and Die Hard - just to name a few.
Research published in the British Tobacco Control Journal found that United States students aged 10 to 19 whose favourite stars smoked on screen were more likely to smoke than those whose favorite stars never smoked in movies. The more a favourite actor smoked, the more favorably the teen viewed smoking.
Fans of Leonardo DiCaprio, Sharon Stone and John Travolta, who each smoked in three or more films, were 16 times likelier to express a favourable opinion about smoking than the fans of "non-smoking" stars.
The Tobacco Industry is desperate for teenagers to start smoking. And they will do whatever they can to ensure that YOU believe that smoking is “the thing to do”. 15

16. Truth Revealed Industry Secret #3: The Tobacco Industry is in the Nicotine Delivery Business
Let’s not kid ourselves. The tobacco industry is selling an addictive drug – Nicotine. The cigarette is nothing more than a device used to get the Nicotine into your body. 16

17. The Lie… “…I believe that nicotine is not addictive…”
Donald Johnson, British American Tobacco, 1994
“…we do not increase the level of nicotine in our products in order to “addict” smokers…”
RJR Advertisement, 1994
Even ten years ago, in public, the Industry was even going so far as to deny that nicotine is addictive! 17

18. The Truth…
“…nicotine is addictive. We are, then, in the business of selling nicotine, …”
Industry Insider
“…BAT should learn to look at itself as a drug company rather than a tobacco company, …”
1980 Memo From Team of British American Tobacco (BAT) Scientists
However, internally, they absolutely knew the truth. 18

19. You’re a Target Print Material
Let’s look at this advertisement that you may have seen already on television or heard on the radio. 19

20. Did you Know? Most smokers start smoking before they are 16 years old
The average age to start smoking is 12 years old
Most people start smoking on their own school property
Another issue which is becoming more and more prevalent is the issue of smoking on school property. We know that children are starting to smoke at a very young age, and the easiest place for them to try smoking is right on their own school property. In schools that allow smoking on their grounds, more and more children have the opportunity to smoke, thus becoming ultimately addicted. 20

21. Smoking On School Property
Some schools in the Province still allow smoking on school grounds
Is your school property 100% smoke free?
Read slide 21

22. Why Ban Smoking From School Property?
Second-Hand Smoke aggravates asthma, allergies, and respiratory problems
Children will have fewer opportunities to begin smoking
Smoking on school property sends the message that smoking is a normal, acceptable activity
Allowing smoking on school property is in conflict with prevention messages delivered in the classroom
The vast majority of smokers begin the habit during their school years and continue throughout their adult lives
Read slide
May supplement with the “Dozen Good Reasons for Tobacco Free Schools” fact sheet provided in your resource kit. 22

23. The Challenge!
If your school, or a school you know of, is not already 100% smoke free, why don’t you see if you can CHANGE IT!
Talk about it with teachers and students and plan how you can DO SOMETHING about smoking on school property!
A copy of the Smoke-Free Activists Tool Kit has been sent to your school. This kit will give you ideas and activities to promote smoke-free schools – CHECK IT OUT!
Read slide. 22

24. For more information, you can visit this website.1