SMOKING - Blog

News Summary

Nineteen percent of Canadians currently smoke, but the government wants to cut that down to 12 percent by 2011, AFP reported Aug. 21. Canadian Health Minister Tony Clement said that the decrease would be achieved through tougher smoking bans and crackdowns on tobacco smuggling. “Reaching a 12 percent smoking rate is a very ambitious goal, but it is by no means unrealistic,” said Clement. “Seeing the great progress we have made over the past few years, I am confident that by putting our renewed Federal Tobacco Control Strategy into action, we can achieve this goal.” The plan also calls for cutting smoking among 15- to 19-year-olds from 15 percent to 9 percent, and to cut secondhand-smoke exposure from 28 percent of the population to 20 percent.