The Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health (CQTS) has announced the launch of the 46th edition of the Week for a Tobacco-Free Quebec. From January 15 to 21, the CQTS, its partners and the Ministry of Health and Social Services are mobilizing to encourage the population to take concrete action to reduce smoking in Quebec and discuss the harmful effects of tobacco on health.
Despite themselves, smokers have signed a bad deal with cigarettes. This year, the Week for a Tobacco-Free Quebec invites them to see it again and give themselves every chance to quit smoking. Tobacco is not a lifelong contract: it is never too late to quit smoking and thus put the odds on your side in order to have a better life expectancy.
Tobacco is not a lifetime contract
The Week for a Tobacco-Free Quebec is an excellent time to discuss smoking without judgment and with kindness with family and friends, to support a person who smokes in his or her entourage in his desire to get rid of his addiction to tobacco or to raise awareness. a young person the importance of not starting to smoke. Actor, writer and ultramarathoner Patrice Godin is spokesperson for the Week for a Tobacco-Free Quebec for a 4th year.
“Over time, smoking has had a negative impact on many aspects of my life and that of my loved ones. I was afraid of having a heart attack, dying and not seeing my daughters grow up. So I promised my daughters to quit smoking: in a way, I signed a contract for life with my family and with Quebecers by getting involved with the Week for a Tobacco-Free Quebec. It wasn’t easy, but I managed to quit smoking. This year, I want to invite you to take the same contract with us. Every minute you don’t smoke, you earn! “, he mentions.
Victims of the tobacco industry
Smokers and their families are economic and social victims of tobacco industry manipulation and lies, since the health dangers of their products have been hidden from consumers for years. In fact, tobacco is an important risk factor for 16 types of cancer and 21 chronic diseases.
People who started smoking in adolescence and who continue to do so in adulthood are more at risk of premature death than others: 50% of them will die between the ages of 35 and 69, which represents 22 years less of life. Despite the health dangers identified for several decades, the profits of the tobacco industry continue to increase each year.
“While the tobacco tax brings in only $900 million in Quebec, care for diseases related to tobacco consumption costs Quebecers $2.5 billion each year. It is all the more important to point out that Quebec is last in terms of tobacco taxation compared to the other Canadian provinces. It is $15 less than Ontario in terms of taxation and $30 less than the Canadian average,” points out Annie Papageorgiou, Executive Director of the CQTS.
“Still today, smoking is one of the leading preventable causes of death in Canada and around the world. While Quebec has made considerable progress in the fight against smoking, nearly one million Quebecers remain addicted to cigarettes. Nearly 400,000 people in Quebec are currently living with a serious smoking-related illness and 13,000 people die annually from tobacco,” adds Annie Papageorgiou.
Resources to help you quit smoking
The CQTS invites people who wish to quit smoking to use the STOP services:
confidential, free assistance whose effectiveness has been proven with Quebecers who wish to quit smoking;
smoking cessation professionals are available to offer help online (jarrete.qc.ca / iquitnow.qc.ca), help by phone (1 866 JARRETE (1 866 527-7383) ), in-person help at quit smoking centers in Quebec or help by text message.