How To Legalize Smoking In Canada

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In order to regulate this public health concern, the Tobacco Sales to Young Persons Act (TSYPA) was passed in May of 1988, replacing the 1908 Tobacco Restraint Act (“A Legal History of Smoking”). The purpose of the TSYPA was to protect the health of young Canadians by limiting their access to tobacco products in light of the risks associated with the use of tobacco. It prohibits any person from selling or giving tobacco to those under the age of eighteen. It also requires tobacco vending machines to be removed from all public places except bars and taverns. The next major law was introduced in 2000 (“A Legal History of Smoking”) requiring cigarette packages to carry one of sixteen new health warnings that cover half of the cigarette package. …show more content…
In 2010, this law went from fifty percent to seventy five percent of anti-smoking ad coverage on cigarette packs. On May 31st 2006, laws banning smoking in all enclosed public areas arrived in both Ontario and Quebec including a ban on any tobacco displays serving as decoration or promotion (“A Legal History of Smoking”). The tobacco industry spends about $10 billion a year on marketing while companies say they do not intend to aim their advertisements at young people. Regardless of intent, the impact of tobacco marketing is to ultimately encourage underage smoking. It is clear that the government of Canada, specifically Ontario has tried their best to limit advertisements to young people as strategies to reduce youth smoking including higher tobacco prices, better enforcement of laws prohibiting tobacco sales to children which further limits tobacco marketing, educational media campaigns about negative health consequences and implementing smoke-free laws and …show more content…
Tobacco control has proved as a lesson demonstrating a need for adaptive policies to promote healthier choices and create more opportunities for children to attain healthy weights. The average people often purchase and eat foods without being aware of the nutritional content or harmful effects. Fast food is one of the most heavily advertised product categories targeting children, which has many negative effects. The industry devotes more than $11 billion dollars annually on advertising to children and adolescents using innovative and persuasive methods like product placement and Internet advertisements (Gostin 88). Children are targeted by unhealthy food and beverage advertisements on television, radio, billboards, videogames, movies and social networking platforms. These ads frequently use celebrities or characters to appeal to children by revealing, “if I consume it you should too”. In the United States, children who view fast food commercials are about fifty percent more likely to purchase and consume them (Dhar 799). In addition, young children are incapable of understanding the persuasive intent of advertising thus child and youth obesity rates in 2007-2009 were actually doubled from documented statistics in 1981 (Raine 240). As a result,