Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 09/05) - In an effort to reduce some of the highest smoking rates in the nation, Northwest Territories politicians could soon impose sweeping changes on how cigarettes are sold and advertised.

Convenience store owner Abdullah Al-Mahamud has mixed emotions about a new law that, if passed, would prevent him from displaying cigarettes. - Andrew Raven/NNSL photo

The Tobacco Control Act - introduced three weeks ago in the last session of the legislative assembly - would force store owners to hide all tobacco products, ban advertising in public places and prohibit sales altogether in pharmacies, arenas and liquor stores.

"We want to get them out of sight," said Health minister Michael Miltenberger.

The proposed law - which still must got through a public consultation phase and is likely months away from final approval is designed to break the stranglehold tobacco companies have on the North, Miltenberger said.

A 2004 Health department survey revealed 42 per cent of NWT residents were smokers, twice the national average.

Another study from 2003 said 26 per cent of children between 10 and 17 were smokers, well above the Canadian average of 19 per cent. In the smaller communities, those numbers jump to 39 per cent.

The Tobacco Control Act could help reduce those numbers, Miltenberger said. Its provisions would:

• require store owners to keep cigarettes out of sight;
• ban advertisements in public places like convenient stores;
• make it illegal to sell tobacco in pharmacies, bars, arenas, health clubs and swimming pools;
• outlaw tobacco vending machines in public places and
• re-enforce existing laws that prohibit smoking in the workplace and public areas.

"Our feedback from doctors, nurses and other health care professionals has been excellent," Miltenberger said.

The news drew a mixed response from convenience store owners, who rely heavily on tobacco sales for their livelihood.

"As a businessman it will hurt me," said Abdullah Al-Mahamud, who runs Winks on Franklin Avenue and Forrest Drive. "But as a citizen I think it is a good to prevent people from smoking."

Theresa Olayvar, owner of the Village Reddi Mart on Old Airport Road, said the laws will not change her business. Cigarettes there are already behind closed doors.

The law will affect how cigarette companies do business, she said.

The international conglomerates often pay to have their wares prominently displayed, something that would become moot under the Tobacco Control Act.

Several other Canadian jurisdictions, including Nunavut, already have similar laws in place.