December 12, 2018
Trevor Hancock: Don’t overlook tobacco-addiction epidemic
While the opioid-overdose epidemic is a major focus of concern, it is worth recalling that it is not the most important cause of addiction-related deaths in Canada or even in B.C., the epicentre of the opioid epidemic.
There were almost 4,000 opioid-related deaths in Canada in 2017, but tobacco, which is also addictive, kills 11 times as many Canadians every year as opioids — yes, 11 times as many.
The latest data from Statstics Canada show that in 2017, more than 16 per cent of Canadians 12 and over — 5 million people — smoked. Smoking is more common in low-income populations; more than one in five low-income Canadians smoked, compared with less than one in 10 high-income people. Clearly, we are still a long way from eliminating this scourge. Read more...