Contraband cigarettes attracting cash-strapped teens, report shows cash-strapped teens

Butts picked up near high schools. 'Because they are not purchased through stores which require ID, there is no barrier'

JESSEY BIRD

Canwest News Service

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 Montreal Gazette

Many teenagers in the Ottawa area are turning to cheap and readily available contraband cigarettes, according to a study made public yesterday by the Canadian Convenience Stores Association.

The study surveyed cigarette butts picked up from public grounds outside of 80 high schools in Ontario and 75 in Quebec. In Ottawa, it was found that 23 per cent of the 1,429 butts collected at 10 high schools were contraband. In Ontario, 26 per cent were illegal - up two per cent since last year.

"What we found out is that no matter where we have reached and studied, the issue is at every high school we go to," said Dave Bryans, president of the association. "They are being delivered everywhere."

Debbie McCulloch, supervisor for the tobacco youth prevention program at Ottawa Public Health says cheap, illegal cigarettes directly target the often cash-strapped teenager.

"That lower price is really a huge problem in terms of younger people having easier access," said McCulloch.

If they know where to get it, teens can typically buy a plastic bag containing 200 illegal "rollies" for between $10 and $15 - compared to a legal carton, which costs between $70 and $90, said RCMP Sgt. Marc Laporte.

"Because they are not purchased through stores, which require ID, there is no barrier," said Laporte. "They are more available to teens because instead of sending the older kids to buy cigarettes for the younger ones - the word gets around on who is selling the contraband cigarettes."

Between January and the end of August, the RCMP seized 197,840 cartons and more than 24,000 kilograms of fine-cut tobacco between Cardinal, Ont., and Vaudreuil-Dorion.

They say most of the contraband tobacco in Ontario and Quebec comes from Akwesasne, Mohawk territory straddling the Canada-U.S. border near Cornwall, Ont.

"In 2001, there was just one factory set up on the American side - now in 2008 there are 13," said Sgt. Michael Harvey of the Cornwall RCMP, who added police are now making seizures daily.

"They come in through the waterways and in vehicles," said Laporte.

"Just because of the sheer volume of traffic we can only stop so much," Harvey said.