Smoke-Free Day 2006 a success
[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/smoke-free.jpg” caption=”Smoke-free day logo”]Students approached organizers to share an interest in the cause. Some wanted to know how they could help enforce McMaster's 9-metre smoking rule, which encourages smokers to keep a distance of at least 9-metres of a building entrance while smoking. Others found useful resources to help themselves or friends in their quest for healthy living. Even smokers came around to show their support of the day and were willing to take a free sample of Nicorette to chew instead of smoking for the day.
The second annual Smoke-Free Day organized by McMaster's chapter of Leave the Pack Behind (LTPB) took place on Monday, March 6 and was considered by all involved to be a success. The days slogan for 2006 was “Our Health. Our Campus. Our Community. Our Day.” Four main goals for the days were to:
The new legislation falls under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act and will prohibit smoking in all workplaces and enclosed public spaces including restaurants, bars, sports and entertainment venues, work vehicles and offices. There will also be new restrictions on the display of tobacco products in retail outlets so that displays are of a smaller, regulated size and authorities will be even tougher when it comes to the law and penalties regarding the sale of tobacco to minors.
Smoke-Free Day events took place at the core of campus in the McMaster University Student Centre Marketplace from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., enticing passersby with free hot chocolate, popcorn and cotton candy. Musicians such as Kohji Nagata, Matt Quinn, Wes Davies, Second Ave. East and Hearts at Half Mast filled the MUSC with their inspired melodies. Keynote speaker, Shaine Peters offered an eye-opening speech on the deceptive marketing tactics employed by tobacco companies to target youth while campus displays offered helpful resource materials. The Health and Wellness Centre, SHEC and LTPB as well as representatives from local health organizations were on hand to support the day's messages, including Hamilton Public Health, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Heart and Stroke, and the Lung Association.
Over 1,100 Smoke-Free Mac buttons were distributed to interested members of the McMaster community who submitted 700 of the accompanying pledge forms. Each Smoke-Free Mac button was attached to a pledge signed by the wearer, stating a promise to support the day by refraining from smoking and promote it through word of mouth. Raffle ballots were given to pin wearers for a range of prizes donated by Health Canada, multiple campus departments, and local Westdale merchants. Throughout the day, volunteers conducted random spot checks around campus that proved over 100 students were found to be proudly wearing their pins.
LTPB is a tobacco-awareness initiative run through the Health & Wellness Centre and administered through Brock University. Through extensive research it has been found that smoking rates among post-secondary students are high and continue to increase, as youth continue to be the primary market of the tobacco industry. Since smoking is the number one cause of preventable death, and has farreaching implications not just for the smoker, but those a round them, this situation requires not just observation and survey, but some kind of thoughtful response as well. The LTPB staff conducted polls amongst 500 McMaster students in November 2004 and found that over 80% of them supported a smoke-free day on campus with 50% of smokers expressing their support. In view of this situation, two years ago LTPB created a day to engage the McMaster Community to raise awareness and encourage healthy choices.
