Peterborough Public Health Programs Prevent Local Youth from Vaping at Schools
Written by Communications, April 23, 2019
Vaping Enforcement Underway at Local Schools
Peterborough Public Health (PPH) and local school boards are working together to prevent vaping and to inform students and the community about the harms caused by e-cigarettes. In addition to offering tobacco and vaping prevention programs, PPH reports its Tobacco Enforcement Officers have laid 15 charges and given 22 warnings for vaping on school property across both local school boards so far during the 2018-2019 academic year. Tickets have been issued in both the County and City of Peterborough.
“As educators who care deeply about the health and well-being of all of our students and staff, we welcome the support from PPH to create a safe and healthy environment at TAS,” said Laura Doucette, Vice Principal at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School. “We offer a variety of programs and partner with a range of agencies to support our students, but sadly some students aren’t getting the message.”
The Smoke-Free Ontario Act (SFOA) prohibits the smoking or vaping of e-cigarettes, cigarettes, and cannabis not only inside schools, but also 20 meters from school property lines. “To ensure compliance with the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, it is crucial that we build strong relationships with school officials,” explained Courtney Howe, Tobacco Enforcement Officer. “If students are found to be in contravention of the Act, we work with school staff to find the best way to enforce the Act. Sometimes, the best way is to issue a ticket for a $305 fine.”
While enforcement is one part of a comprehensive tobacco control strategy, a larger focus of PPH is the work of Health Promoters and Public Health Nurses (PHNs) who support elementary and secondary schools with curriculum-linked tobacco and vaping prevention programs. These programs engage students by exploring themes such as critical thinking, media literacy, informed decision making, positive coping strategies, healthy relationships, and goal setting. PPH Health Promoters and PHNs also co-facilitate cessation groups for students who want to quit smoking or vaping.
“While e-cigarettes are less harmful than conventional cigarettes that doesn’t make them harmless,” explained Dr. Rosana Salvaterra, Medical Officer of Health. “The rate at which teens are starting to use e-cigarettes is alarming; so much so that the US Surgeon General declared e-cigarette use by youth to be an epidemic. The nicotine delivered by these products can have a significant impact on a teen’s developing brain – affecting everything from behaviour to memory to concentration – and the long term effects of these products are still unknown.”
In 2016, 24.1% of high school students in Peterborough City and County had tried an e-cigarette.
The dramatic increase in youth vaping rates across Canada recently compelled the Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health on April 11 to state “we are very concerned that a new generation of youth addicted to nicotine may lead to a resurgence in smoking or create new public health problems, reversing decades of progress.”
In addition to working with local school boards, PPH collaborates with several community partners including the Peterborough Drug Strategy, Peterborough Police, OPP, Trent University, Fleming College, Parent Action on Drugs, Love Sick Lake Native Women’s Association, and others to get the message out to local youth that “if you don’t smoke, you shouldn’t vape!”
Parents and educators looking for resources on how to talk with youth about vaping are encouraged to visit
www.peterboroughpublichealth.ca/vaping.
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For further information, please contact:
Keith Beecroft
Health Promoter
705-743-1000, ext. 238