Pledge for responsible tobacco retailer

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Dear Editor:

With the coming of the New Year, many of us made promises to ourselves to stop smoking. With conviction and will power, some of us will overcome an addiction to one of the world's most addictive drugs. Yet as nearly every adult smoker finds themselves at some point wanting to stop, and nearly every parent (smoker or otherwise) hopes their children do not develop the habit, our region has developed a youth smoking rate that is double the average.

Tobacco use at one time was limited to sacred ceremonies by Natives and not always smoked. Europeans adopted the plant after contact and developed cigarette-making machines by the mid 1800's, thereby opening the door for a daily habit and quickly eroding tobacco's traditional significance. Unaware, for many years, of the dangers of regular tobacco use, our society underwent a period when nearly every family can trace heart attacks, strokes and cancers of dead uncles, aunts, grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters back to the cigarette. Unfortunately, disease caused by tobacco kills nearly four times as many Canadians as murder as murder, suicide, AIDS, car accidents, fire and accidental poisonings all combined. Today, we are keenly aware of the dangers of tobacco but continue to make it easy for our youth to pick up the habit. Tobacco is readily available to teens and as adults we often role model indifference rather than health and sacred tradition.

National Nonsmoking Week fell between Jan. 20 and 26 this year. During that time, junior and senior high students from 14 schools in our region approached as many tobacco retailers as possible asking them to sign a "Responsible Tobacco Retailer's Pledge."

This pledge ready simply: Eighty per cent of junior high school students feel that teen smoking is a problem in our region. As a responsible tobacco retailer, I recognize that the addiction to tobacco nearly always begins in the teenage years. I am concerned that this early addiction can lead to social and health problems which our young people do not deserve. Being a retailer of tobacco, I have an opportunity to minimize many of these problems. As such, my staff and I pledge to do our very best to refrain from selling tobacco to persons under 18 years of age. People who attempt to purchase tobacco products on these premises who appear to be under 20 will be asked to show identification."

If you are a retailer of tobacco products, we urge you to consider this pledge. You will receive a sticker and public recognition for your support.

Kevin Wirtanen

Tobacco Network Coordinator

Lesser Slave Lake Indian

Regional Council