Kevin Colwell

1

Youth Access and Social Sources A Canadian
Perspective

• Kevin Colwell
• Office of Regulation and Compliance
• Tobacco Control Programme
• April 2006

2
Agenda

• Sales To Youth (Retailer Compliance)
• Linking Retailer Compliance and Social Sources
• Current Canadian Social Sources Data
• The Social Sources Working Group
• Challenges

3
Sales To Youth

• Starting in 1994 with the Tobacco Sales to Young
  Persons Act, (provisions incorporated in 1997
  into the Tobacco Act), Federal, Provincial and
  Territorial governments concentrated on retailers
  to ensure compliance with the sales-to-youth (or
  furnish-to-youth) prohibition.
• (Colwell and Kaiserman, 2004)
• Part II of the Tobacco Act
• 8. (1) No person shall furnish a tobacco product
  to a young person in a public place or in a place
  to which the public reasonably has sources.
  (Tobacco Act, 1997)
• Health Canada has tracked Retailer Compliance
  since 1995.

4
Legal Purchasing Age in Canada
5
Evaluation of Retailers' Behaviour Towards
Certain Youth sources-to-Tobacco
Restrictions(Retailer Compliance)

• Between 1995 and 2003, AC Nielsen carried out
  this surveillance to evaluate retailer behaviour
  towards youth sources restrictions of the federal
  and provincial tobacco laws.
• Starting in 2004 data is collected by a new
  contractor, the Corporate Research Group (CRG).
• Results can be found on our website
• gosmokefree.ca

6
Retailer Behaviour Towards Certain Youth
sources-to-Tobacco Restrictions(Retailer
Compliance Rates)
(Corporate Research Group, 2005)
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Social Sources - defined

• Sources of tobacco for youth other than direct
  purchases or theft from retailers
• Examples of Social Sources
• Stealing or receiving cigarettes from parents or
  other relatives.
• Asking older friends, siblings, or strangers to
  purchase or sell them tobacco products
• Asking older friends, siblings, or strangers to
  give them tobacco products

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Linking Social Sources and Retailer Compliance

• As communities achieve higher compliance rates
  with sales-to-minors legislation, social sources
  of tobacco become more important in the chain of
  supply to young people.
• (DiFranza and Coleman, 2001)
• For smokers under the age of 19, the furnishing
  of cigarettes through social sources needs to be
  directly addressed in conjunction with
  restrictions on commercial sales to ensure a
  positive outcome on reducing overall youth
  sources to tobacco
• (Colwell and Kaiserman, 2004)

9
Youth Smoking Survey (YSS)

• This report of the 2002 Youth Smoking Survey
  provides national and provincial results of this
  Canada-wide survey based on over 19,000
  questionnaires completed by young Canadians in
  grades 5-9 (ages 10-14) and interviews with
  almost 18,000 of their parents.
• The technical report has been published on the
  Health Canada website
• gosmokefree.ca

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YSS- Grades 5-9 Smokers Using Social Sources to
Obtain Tobacco
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YSS - Social Sources 1994 vs 2002
(YSS 2002)
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Experimental vs Daily Smokers

• Experimental smokers were more likely to obtain
  their cigarettes from social sources (87) than
  daily smokers (54). These results indicate that
  older youth were less reliant on social sources
  of tobacco.
• (YSS 2002)

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CTUMS

• CTUMS was developed to provide Health Canada and
  its partners with timely, reliable, and continual
  data on tobacco use and related issues. The
  survey's primary objective is to track changes in
  smoking status and amount smoked, especially for
  15-24-year-olds, who are most at risk for taking
  up smoking.
• CTUMS has had 2 waves per year since 1999. Survey
  questions can change year to year.
• Results for 1999-2005 can be found on the Health
  Canada website at gosmokefree.ca

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CTUMS - Youth Accessing Tobacco through Social
SourcesAges 15-17(18)
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Retailer Compliance and Social sources in Canada
(CRA 2005, YSS, CTUMS)
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Social Sources in Canada

• What is Health Canada doing?

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Working with Partners

• Health Canada has been involved in social
  sources programs being delivered by
• Our Regional Offices
• Provincial TCPs
• NGOs

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Saskatchewan HC TCP Regional Project

• This social sources public awareness campaigns
  objectives are
• To change the practices of targeted groups who
  supply tobacco to minors.
• To inform casual or sympathetic suppliers of
  tobacco to minors of the potential legal
  consequences and of the short and long term
  health implications to minors.
• To engage the primary target group (ages 18-24)
  and increase their awareness of the legal
  consequences while creating a consciousness about
  the issue that will help change patterns of
  behaviour over the long term.

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Saskatchewan HC TCP Regional Project

• This project is currently undertaking focus
  testing of the media creatives.
• The goal is to develop creatives for display at
  tobacco retail locations.

20
Regional Project- Alberta/NWT
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Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
Not To Kids

• Partnership of 22 Ontario public health agencies,
  community members, school boards and retailers.
• The goal of the campaign is to educate retailers
  and the community about the Tobacco Control Act,
  1994 (TCA) and to decrease the number of stores
  selling and persons supplying cigarettes to kids
  under 19.

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Provincial and Territorial Partners

• Smoke, Lies, and Videotape
• In 2004 and 2005, Health Canada funded a contest
  through the B.C. Regional Health Authorities,
  which asked students in Grades 8 -12 to produce a
  30 or 60 second public service announcement
  (PSA) on the topic of youth sources to tobacco.
  Students across the province voted for their
  favourite video.

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Health Canada and Social Sources Moving Forward

• The Social Sources
• Working Group
• (SSWG)

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Social Sources Working Group (SSWG)

• Goal
• The development of a Pan-Canadian Implementation
  Plan to address the issue of social sources
  within Canada.
• Scope
• This is a pan-Canadian project which will address
  the supply of tobacco products to young persons
  through social sources.
• Target Population
• This project will focus on both the social
  sources supplier (i.e. young adults who smoke in
  general, with a concentration on young adults and
  family members of young persons) and young
  persons who obtain tobacco products through
  social sources, particularly underage smokers.

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Social Sources Working Group (SSWG)

• Activities
• Conduct Research and Analysis of current
  initiatives to reduce the prevalence and use of
  social sources, both within and outside of
  Canada.
• Host a Roundtable of experts to discuss current
  Social sources programs/projects
• Consult with Internal and External experts

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What We Have Found So Far

• Research Gap
• We Need to research and identify best practices
  so tobacco reduction professionals can develop
  programs to reduce the supply of tobacco from
  social sources in their communities.
• Baseline Data
• We need to measure attitudes and behaviours of
  youth and of the general public with regard to
  this issue.

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What We Have Found So Far

• Social Sources Projects
• There are only a few projects which are
  addressing this issue.
• In the past 10 years, most of the social sources
  projects have been undertaken by NGOs and/or our
  Provincial partners.

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What We Have Found So Far

• Social Sources Messaging
• Social Marketing
• Legal vs Health/Social responsibility
• Research (focus testing, interviews, literature
  reviews)

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Challenges.

• Evaluation?
• Social Sources or Social Access?
• Are there adequate resources for both Social
  Sources and Retail Sources?

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Questions or Comments?
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100 Retailer Compliance!!!!!!
Contravention!
Legal Sale
Illegal Sale
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References

• Corporate Research Group. Evaluation of
  Retailers' Behaviour Towards Certain Youth
  sources-to-Tobacco Restrictions. Final Report of
  Findings 2004.
• Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS
  2002, 2003, 2004, 2005-Wave 1). Health Canada,
  Ottawa.
• Colwell and Kaiserman, 2004. Health Canada.
  Restricting Youth sources Through Commercial and
  Social Sources.
• Createc, Les Etudes de Marche (1999). Final
  Report Qualitative Study - How underage youth
  get cigarettes. Health Canada, Health Promotion
  Programs Branch, Ottawa.
• DiFranza, J., and Coleman, M. (2001). Sources
  of Tobacco for youths in communities with strong
  enforcement of youth sources laws. Tobacco
  Control 2001, Dec 10. (4) 323-8.
• Youth Smoking Survey (1994 and 2002). Health
  Canada.