Northern Health intrigued by BC Clean Air Coalition strategies, increased smoking age

If BC’s Clean Air Coalition gets its way by slashing tobacco use in the province, they’ll receive no shortage of support from Northern Health.

Earlier this week, the coalition submitted several strategies to the province including raising the legal smoking age to 21.

If this becomes reality, it could lead to a trickle-down effect where more youth might decide to butt out.

“Certainly we know that most kids start smoking before their 18th birthday, so if we raise the age to 21 they have less access from friends and older siblings to get tobacco,” says Nancy Viney, Northern Health Tobacco Reduction Lead.

Choosing to smoke also led to some increased issues for those who needed medical attention during the wildfire crisis.

“Last summer, during the fires, people who smoked had more difficulty breathing because they already have decreased lung capacity, smoking is the leading cause of hospitalizations. Patients who are hospitalized often come back in a short period of time.”

Viney says protecting families from second-hand smoke is key when trying to reduce tobacco rates.

“Creating supportive environments to protect everyone from tobacco smoking is an effective tool to decrease the harms of tobacco and living in a smoke-free home can prevent kids from starting to smoke and helping people who have quit, stay quit.”

Currently, the smoking rate in Northern BC is 20%.

Tobacco use in the province puts a yearly strain on the healthcare system, to the tune of 2.1 billion dollars.