Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is World No-Tobacco Day. And this year, it will be special for me - it's been 11 weeks since my last cigarette. It's not the first time I've quit but hopefully it'll be the last.
Mr. Speaker, nicotine is more addictive than alcohol, heroin, or cocaine. So days like World No-Tobacco Day are truly important to raise awareness about the dangers of smoking tobacco.
Created by the World Health Organization in 1987, the yearly celebration informs the public on the dangers of using tobacco, the business practices of tobacco companies, what the WHO is doing to fight the tobacco epidemic, and what people around the world can do to claim their right to health and healthy living and to protect future generationsf.
This year's theme is Youth Step In and Speak Out, and young people are being given a platform to urge governments, like ours, to shield them from predatory tobacco marketing tactics. Children use E-cigarettes and vapes at a higher rate than adults with an estimated 37 million youths aged 13 to 15 using tobacco. The industry is well aware of this and knows that if it can get kids hooked, they will continue to smoke for life.
British American Tobacco and Philip Morris International are exploiting social media to market these addictive products to young people. Three products between these two companies, Vuse E-cigarettes, VELO nicotine pouches, and Iqos heated tobacco, have been viewed more than 3.4 billion times on social media. Marketing for just these three brands has reached more than 385 million people, and approximately 40 percent of this audience are children under the age of 25. Even so, most youth and adult smokers want to quit, and more than half have attempted to in the past year. But fewer than one in ten smokers actually succeed. This isn't a matter of willpower; this is a matter of providing the proper supports and encouragement in the health system and communities to ensure they succeed.
Mr. Speaker, I know that the Minister cares about this. I know that our government cares about this. Our Members care about this. We have terrible rates of addiction to cigarettes. I can attest to that. And I hope that my colleagues here will join me in raising awareness for No Tobacco Day tomorrow and wish me luck in kicking smoking once and for all. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Members' statements. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
